


Hidden In The Past

by Impalaofthelord



Category: Sherlock - Fandom, Supernatural, The Infernal Devices, The Mortal Instruments
Genre: I apologise, Multi, Probably Crappy, first proper fanfic, it was a random 3am idea, multi-fandom - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2018-08-22 13:01:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 31,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8286751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Impalaofthelord/pseuds/Impalaofthelord
Summary: Sherlock Holmes and John Watson have been working with the Winchester brothers for a few weeks now and have managed to get themselves all caught up in a gigantic mess and on the run from some serious 'people'. When castiel sends them back to London in the Victorian ages, what will this new group of friends learn? And who will they meet?





	1. Chapter 1

Sherlock and John had been working with the Winchester brothers for several weeks- well, two weeks- while the brothers were in London, trying to solve a case that involved some tricky demons- and the King of hell, and a reaper, and a pissed off Angel or two...  
But anyway, the case was starting to get tedious. Scotland Yard were overwhelmed with the deaths and injuries these supernatural creatures were causing.  
They were all currently on the run from a nasty combination of demons and Angels.

How did they end up with two complete opposite beings teaming up against them? That's a whole other story. Right now we can just focus on this one.

They ran around a corner and into a house Sherlock knew was recently abandoned  
"Quick! In here- shut up!" Sherlock whisper-hissed as John and the Winchester brothers clambered into one room, "Got any Angel blades on you, fellas? Or are we as royally screwed as I think?" John whispered sarcastically and Dean rolled his eyes, Sam replying "How Royal would you say the queen is, Dean?"

"Pretty damn Royal?"

"That's how screwed we are."

Sherlock was pacing, his eyes half closed, his hands moving around frequently, then he stopped "shut up! Everyone shut up! Don't move don't speak don't even breathe! What do you call your Angel- your friend?" He said quickly turning to Dean, who panicked at being put on spot and stuttered out "C-Cas?"  
"He's here. Hiding." Sherlock said spinning around to try and find him, when Cas suddenly materialised in front of John,

"You need to go. All of you. Somewhere the Angels can't find you."

"Where Cas? Go where?" John asked confused but Sherlock suddenly straightened,

"The past or future?"

Dean and Sam blinked in unison "Uh hell no we've had terrible experiences with time travel-"  
"Oh be quiet, Dean." Cas rumbled and there was a bright light, and everyone closed and covered their eyes to block it out.

Then when they opened them they were all standing in a street in London-  
But...damn was it different.  
Most of the buildings were different- in fact half of them were either completely different of just not there. There were Victorian-dressed people walking around and carriages rolling down the roads

"Damnit Cas!" Dean groaned, Sam and John both had their mouths open slightly in astonishment, but Sherlock?  
Sherlock was looking around with a small smile on his face "London... 1887...Oh how not dull. Magnificent.." He mumbled half to himself and Dean looked at him shocked

"1887- it's freakin' 1887 and you're getting excited! Damn curly this is not-"

"Shut up-" Sherlock said suddenly, his attention focusing on something in the distance-

"No, I mean it-"

"Seriously shut up!" He said while walking past everyone 

"Sherlock! Where are you going?" John called as he and the brothers followed him  
Sherlock stopped and blinked, turning to face everyone

"Nevermind. I just thought I saw-"

"Pardon me? Sorry to disrupt your conversation but you seem rather lost and I was wondering if you needed directions or something of the sort?" Came a voice from behind Sherlock, a pleasant, kind, British voice. Sherlock whirled around to see a tall, handsome boy with odd silver hair and the same coloured eyes, dressed in black trousers and a black shirt, with straps across it- workers clothes perhaps?. He was also carrying a cane with a jade headed dragon top-  
Immediately Sherlock was running through deductions

Size 9- no. Size 10 feet,  
6ft2 and a half  
Thin, very..very thin..  
Needs cane for support-must be ill?  
Has strange knife in pocket and in the straps.  
Cuff links? Also holding knives..Hm-  
Is that the hilt of a sharp sword?-  
Oh! He plays violin! Marvellous.

Then sherlocks eyes drifted to his face

Half British,  
Half Asian- Chinese?  
Cane obviously made specially in..Shanghai?  
Most likely an orphan  
Has people who fret over him, he doesn't like it much..  
Yes, obviously Ill..very ill. Probably only has a short time to live and has been ill for a while- 5-6 years probably?  
Obviously a very kind, calm person  
Doesn't like others worrying over him?  
Seems to be a warrior of some sort  
Has went through a lot  
Very Prominent facial structure-  
17-18 years old.  
17...years..  
what   
No this couldn't be right   
Sherlocks deductions all linked to someone way older yet this young boy was only 17? This must be a mistake- but Sherlock doesn't make mistakes.

Sherlock was so genuinely shocked  
that his deductions were interrupted   
"I- uhm..I.." He said slowly and quietly, still not sure about this boy.

Then Sam stepped forward to save the day "Yeah. Hello, we are uhm..new here? And we were wondering if there was anywhere we could stay for a little while?" He asked the boy, who was smiling kindly and studying this odd group of people.

"Of course. Well there's a tavern down that street that I believe constantly has vacancies. And it is quite good quality, if you were to ask me- well, the rooms are good quality. I'm afraid I'm not the type to frequent taverns for a drink. Though-" he broke off, his kind smile broadening to a fond but worried smile as he looked into the distance , "pardon me a moment- William!" He called stepping around Sherlock, giving him a perfect view of what looked like a tattoo on his neck, and on his hand- and on the back of his neck and-

Sherlock stopped, he didn't think he had seen those symbols before, but yet, the black haired boy with bright, dark blue eyes whom the silver hair boy walked over to seemed to have them too- matching ones, actually. And they stood close together, exchanging whispered words

"Sherlock? Who is that boy-" John whispered and Sherlock snapped his gaze away from the two strange boys "I don't know..."

"You don't know?" Dean retorted

"I don't know, yes. I don't know who he is. But I know that he is fatally Ill- he's dying. He is half Chinese half British, he's an orphan, he's..he's 17, he plays violin- he's probably quite good. He has a cat, a blue Persian by the looks of it.. Im assuming he loves animals- he looks the sort. That's his close friend. They're-"

Sam couldn't help but butt in, "Damn, really? He seems really nice for an orphan of that age who is dying.."  
Dean locked gazes with Sherlock

"You alright? You seem..off.." 

"It's just his tattoos. I can't recall what they mean. But his friend has them too.."

Sam and Dean turned to look at the boys, who were still talking, though the black haired one had walked backwards a few steps and was grinning, the silver haired boy looking concerned 

"I just thought they were some weird Victorian thing." Dean admitted and Sam nodded "Me too.."  
John squinted "I don't...I don't see any tattoos"   
"How can you not see them? They're black as ink and the silver haired boy is so pale I could spot them a mile away- sh!" Sherlock said quickly as the silver haired boy walked back with his friend close by his side looking frustrated, though He was smiling

"Anyway, as I was saying. The tavern will provide you with rooms and meals as long as you have the money to pay for it and-"  
"James why are you helping these mundanes?" The black haired boy- William, whispered into James' ear and James paused to look at his friend with a sharp look, before continuing, "and the owner will gladly give you directions too-"

"I have a question." Sherlock said suddenly, unable to bare not knowing things.  
"Of course, ask away." James said politely, though Sherlock saw the hesitation in his eyes, he worries I am going to ask about the illness. Sherlocks eyes flicker to William and he notices the fierce protectiveness in his blue eyes.

He was also unusually handsome, 17 years old, he obviously has a dark secret, he is almost 6ft2 and a half, he is probably half Welsh? Definitely half British. Not an orphan, but left his family behind? Fiercely protective of his friend. Hm..

He blinked "Your tattoos. What do they mean?" He asked cooly and was confused and satisfied by the two boys looks of surprise, they glanced at each other and Sherlock had the feeling of unsaid words being exchanged.

"Sherlock can be a little..forward sometimes. He is just curious and so am I- and my brother." Dean put in carefully and James looked back at them, William also looking back, though with less kindness 

"They are...old symbols. You could say they are of biblical origin- some would argue they are angelic." He said with a soft small smile, something close to amusement glittering in his eyes, mixed with worry

"Ah- but we- my brother and I- oh, and Sherlock- are relatively well uhm..acquainted with religious- and non religious- symbols and we've never seen anything like those."  
John sighed, frustrated. And williams eyes flickered to him,

"You. You can't see them, can you?" He asked amused and James hit his arm lightly "Will stop patronising the- them."  
John looked even more confused

"why? Why can't I see them?" He asked and James bit his lip, opening his mouth to reply. Only to be interrupted by a loud-ish wailing noise-

"Oh- for raziels sake!" William grumbled, and James' eyes has widened, he looked at the group of people "I apologise- but my friend and I have to depart we uh.. Some urgent business and uhm-"  
"Jem come on I think it's a behemoth!" William said quietly but urgently and James dropped a polite nod, before starting to walk with William   
Behemoth  
That, the boys understood.

"A..demon?" Dean asked loud enough for them to hear, amused that he knew something he wasn't expected to know.  
The boys hesitated and William groaned "I may jump into the Thames." They heard William say as they both spun around

"Pardon?" James said slowly

"Behemoth. It's a demon, isnt it? Are you guys hunters?"

"No..." Sherlock said suddenly, smiling triumphantly, "oh- of course! How had I forgot something like that! You're nephilim? Aren't you. Oh that is brilliant."  
The boys visably tensed a little, and William groaned again "James this is why you consult me before stopping to help Mundies."  
James only smiled slightly "You. You know where the old church is? The abandoned one down the street?" He asked Sherlock

"Yeees?" Sherlock said slowly, and exasperatedly. As if it were obvious.

"Well we live there. We have urgent business to attend to so if you would kindly go there we won't be a minute. Be right back." He nodded at them and then both boys broke into a run-   
An inhumanly fast run. They disappeared from sight within a moment,

"Nephilim?!" Sam and Dean asked in Unison and John blinked, confused as always "What is a nephilim?"

"Sammy and I had to help Angels Gank some nephilim once. They're dangerous!"

"Mmm nope- well, yes. Very. But...You're thinking of when an angel and a human have children, whereas these nephilim are...entirely different. Ohh they're interesting. I thought it was just a story- but the black haired boy? He said Raziel. The name of the Angel that created them all those centuries ago."

" 'created' as in...?"

"Oh dear god you have so much research to do. A man called Jonathan Shadowhunter summoned Raziel and begged him to pour his blood into a cup to create a new race of people to fight the 'war against demons'. He did, and since then the race of... Of superhumans...has grown. Branching into different families..." He explained

"Uh...no. Hunters fight demons and-"

"Nephilim fight different demons than you, Dean. You fight the 'black cloud' demons that possess bodies to have a physical form. Whereas these demons already have a form. There are countless different breeds of demons. Like dogs. All different and- we should go to that church now.."  
John was watching all this happen like a lost dog in the middle of a room of humans "That church the crazy teenager-Angel boy was talking about." John said  
"Well, yes."  
"But he said it was abandoned? Are they squatting in an abandoned church?" Sam asked, after being quiet for a long time   
"Obviously not, Sammy. Something must be up.." Dean piped in, adrenaline pumping through his veins. They all looked at Sherlock for an explanation but he just shrugged lightly, a particularly not-Sherlock gesture "There isn't much information on Nephilim that I could get a hold of." He said simply and started walking, leaving the three others to follow confused 


	2. Pick it up, pick it all up..

"Will!" Jem called to his Parabatai, who was so busy fighting one demon That he didn't notice the other one advancing on him. Jem moved swiftly away from the burning Ichor that was the demon he had just killed and jumped in front of the one about to stab will, getting its pincer stuck through his shoulder painfully as he stabbed his seraph blade through its chest, killing it.

Will killed his demon and spun around just in time to catch and steady his Parabatai before he fell, "Oh- By the Angel James.... Ohhhh you stupid stupid-"  
"Yes yes I get it, Will..I'm stupid. Couldn't let you get stabbed..part of the oath...Sorry about that." Jem choked out, gasping to get air  
Wills face was a mask of worry as he helped his Parabatai stand up properly, slinging his arm around his shoulder

"It's okay just- just try and stay awake until I get you back to the infirmary.." He said softly, starting to walk back to the institute, 

"W-will.." Jem managed to get out

"Yes? What's wrong?" Will asked concerned

"T-the mun-mundanes they're...they'll be at the...will don't be rude..." His voice slowly turned to a murmur as his eyelids fluttered, making It obvious that he was struggling to stay conscious 

"Oh- God, Jem. Why'd you invite them.." He groaned playfully and Jem made a soft laughing sound, which turned into a violent fit of coughing, blood spraying from his mouth

"Shit- right okay hang on brother we'll be right there..." Will said concerned as he turned to corner and approached the institute, pausing momentarily when he saw the group of mundanes from earlier standing outside 

"Okay, mundanes. Jem wanted to talk to you all so you should come inside and go to Charlotte- no. I'm not taking any questions. I'm busy." He said coldly, realising that Jem had gone completely limp and was unconscious and lifting his up properly while walking up the steps

"Dude what happened to your friend?" The smaller American called while walking up the stairs, his voice soon followed by the smaller British person

"Shoulder injury. He's loosing a lot of blood. I'm a doctor maybe I-"

"Oh shut up." Will snapped, stopping in front of the door, "Unless you're the worlds only Mundie doctor that can fully heal demon wounds and-" he cut off and looked at the door, and it swung open.  
Will walked straight in, leaving the door wide open and hurrying away into the institute 

"Isn't he a ball of sunshine." An American muttered, following the tall British man into the institute.

But Sam? He was concerned- he was worried about the silver haired boy. If Sherlock was correct then this...this seventeen year old Angel nephilim boy that had stopped to help them, even though he was dying and in the middle of a hunt. Sam had been... Well, shocked, to say the least.. When he saw the black haired boy carrying this fragile looking silver haired dying boy, {who was bleeding out and most likely poisoned so now dying twice- no, three times as much,}with such care and worry that Sam has felt his heartbeat quicken. He hurried into this strange building after his brother and friends only to stop when a woman with brown eyes and brown eyes stood in front of them 

"oh dear." She said plainly 

"Oh dear?" Sherlock asked with a smirk and Dean smiled  
"what a British thing to say" he murmured under his breath

"No." The woman said clearly, "I'm afraid, Sir, that oh dear isn't really classed as a 'British thing to say' since it is indeed an international phrase used as a synonym for, pardon my language, oh fuck. Now, shall we get on with it? What are your names?"  
Sherlock blinked, he knew what Victorian England was like and women did not swear 

"Sherlock Holmes." 

"Dean Winchester and that's my brother Sam, Sam Winchester."

"And I'm John Watson."

"Delightful. Well, I'm Charlotte Branwell. The two boys you met were William herondale, And James Carstairs."

"Who else lives here? It's very big.."  
Sam asked awestruck by the interior of the place 

"Her ginger husband...A blonde girl...some servants... James' cat.." Sherlock said while looking around and charlottes lips parted slightly in surprise

"Will made it clear you were mundanes. Was he wrong?"

John had obviously had enough "Can someone please tell me what the bloody hell is going on?"

"Nephilim, John. Do pay attention" Sherlock said plainly and Dean chuckled 

"listen lady, I have no idea what a...a mundane is. And I don't like not knowing. So feel free to explain like...any time now." 

Charlotte sighed "A mundane is a normal human being."

"Fascinating." Sherlock murmured and Sam couldn't help but butt in 

"Uhm excuse me? Yeah hey. My brother and I have been hunting things all our lives and we have never come across one of your guys?"

Charlotte smiled "You probably have. But we have methods of going unnoticed.."

"Yeah but-"  
Sam cut off as Charlotte walked up to him, looking up at him with curiosity "I fear I may not be able to answer all of your questions.."

Dean looked at her confused "Yeah well like Sammy here said we've been ganking all sorts of nasty creatures since- well for a hell of a long time and help from your magic Angel demon hunter people would have been awesome."  
Charlotte turned to him but it was Sherlock who spoke

"Congratulations, Dean. Half of what you just said would be complete babble to Charlotte."  
Charlotte now stepped back and looked at all of them "Where are you from?"

"Curly and Watson are from London, Sammy and me are from-"

"I."

"Okay Sherlock. Sammy and I are from Lawrence, Kansas."

"Interesting. And exactly when are you from?"

"What-"

"She's not stupid Dean. Everything about you screams 'not from here! Don't understand!' Everything from your posture to your speech to your clothes." Sherlock answered briskly and Charlotte smiled slightly.

Sam glanced at Dean before looking back to Charlotte "2016. We're from 2016.."

Her smile grew at that, "Well then... We'd better get you all sorted out and have a proper talk, shouldn't we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its pretty late and I've been writing this for like an hour and a half so that means that half of it probably makes no sense..  
> So please, feel to leave any sort of feedback! Even to tell me about spelling mistakes or anything because honestly I hate having spelling mistakes :) Thanks!


	3. And start again..

Will laid his parabatais limp form down on one of the White infirmary beds gently and immediately set to removing his weapon straps and taking off his black shirt to assess the damage.  
Oh dear...  
He felt his breath catch in his throat as he saw the large circular wound that went right through Jems pale shoulder. It was bleeding heavily and the edges of the ragged torn skin were tinted black; An indicator that demon poison was fighting its way through his friend's veins.

"Oh James" he murmured softly, leaning over to check how deep the wound was, only to find that it went straight through his shoulder. Clipping his thin collarbone and meaning that all will could do was prepare the yin fen solution for the silent brothers and draw some blood replacement runes.  
He did both of those things, drawing three blood replacement runes and then adding some yin fen into a glass of water and frowning at the silver-tinted mixture for two reasons.

One: This was it. This was the thing that was killing his Parabatai. His brother. The thing that was destroying his life.

And two: He knew that the yin fen was necessary if Jem was going to recover. But he also knew that the silent brothers would try to get Jem to drink the mixture; and if Jem was too weak to swallow? They'd inject it. And as strong and fearless Jem may seem.   
He hates needles.   
Despises them.  
He hasn't told anyone but will this- and will knows why, without asking, because Will had seen the many tiny circular scars on Jems neck, wrist and upper arm where Yanluo had injected him with the demon poison-

"William?" Came a soft voice from the doorway and will didn't have to turn to know that that question had come from Charlotte. Who would obviously have the silent brothers with her.  
Instead he just slid to his knees by his parabatais bed and held out the glass of yin fen,

"Do as you must. Help him. Please."  
He half whispered and almost immediately there were two silent brothers across the bed from will, studying Jems wound, and brother Enoch had taken the glass of Yin Fen and was pressing it to Jems lips. Will was hoping- begging that Jem would open his mouth and swallow. Mostly for Jems sake. So he wouldn't have to have another needle stuck into his arm.  
But when has he ever gotten anything he wanted?  
Jems lips did not part and brother Enoch drew his hand back, reaching to pick up a syringe. That's when will found himself thinking off what Jem would say. He'd say nothing.

"No!" Will said suddenly and brother Enoch stopped, turning to look down at will, who continued "let me...let me try. Please let me try to get him to drink it first..?" He pleaded quietly and brother Enoch just looked at him, before replying 'Be swift, William Herondale. He is getting weaker.' In his head while handing him the glass, which Will took with slightly shaking hands and raised himself up properly on his knees, bringing the glass to Jems pale lips.

"Come on James...please brother..drink this...for me...please..." He whispered and, to his surprise and delight, Jems lips parted just enough for the liquid to run in so Jem could swallow it weakly.  
Wills lips formed a small proud smile and he brought the glass away, allowing brother Enoch room to place a hand on Jems chest, over his heart. Obviously trying to get rid of the poison..  
All will could do now was watch as they healed his Parabatai and pray silently until they were finished.

Three hours later the Brothers left and Jem was sleeping soundly, will by his bedside counting his breaths and watching as his eyes moved steadily beneath his eyelids.  
Will was slightly relieved by how e was sleeping, for he had seen Jem while he was having a nightmare/ hell, he had seen almost all of Jems reactions to almost all of his nightmares, and this didn't seem like one.  
Didn't, being the important word.  
Jems eyes moved a little faster and his breath caught like a gasp as he breathed out a single word.  
Will wasn't sure if it meant something in a different language but-  
Hold on...  
Where has he heard that before-  
That name.  
Was it a name?  
"James...James what- who is Castiel?" Will asked his parabatais sleeping form softly, half hoping for a reply from him.   
He did get a reply..But not from Jem.

"How does he know Castiel?" Came a strong, American voice from the doorway, and will turned to see it was the shorter blonde-brown haired one with the green eyes and freckles.  
Not his favourite one.

"How am I supposed to know, Sir?He's dreaming." He said coldly and the man raised an eyebrow,

"What is Cas' name doing in your friends dreams, then? Has he mentioned him before?-"

"I don't know who you are. But James has never once uttered that name. Who are you? What is a Castiel?"

"Not what, William. WHO. He's my..friend. My name is Dean."

Will had turned away from him and was looking at Jem again, "Then the question is...why is your friend in Jems dream..." He murmured half to himself and Dean started to walk forward,

"Okay, listen to me for a minute dude-"

"Dude?" Will repeated bitterly, who was this American? What in gods name is going on?

"You probably won't believe what I'm about to tell you-" the American- Dean, went on persistantly

"Try me." Will muttered

"Angel."

"I'm flattered, really, but your not my type." Will joked coldly, watching Jems breathing become uneven with worry

"No, you ass. I mean Castiel. He's an angel."

That got Wills attention. He knew he had heard that name before- or had he? There was one way he could check.  
He jumped up and started to walk across the infirmary to where his weapon belt hung.

"Hey what are you-" Dean said taking a step towards him as will drew out a seraph blade,  
"Is that glass or something? I don't see how glass-"

"Oh shut up." Will grumbled and then leaned down to the blade, whispering "Castiel." And then watching as the blade lit up.   
So it was true.

"Woah what just-"

"Seraph blade. I'm not explaining this all to you. You can read yourself or get James or Charlotte to tell you. I was making sure your friend is actually an angel. The blade lights up when you call it the name of an angel."

"Awesome how-"Dean murmured and then cut off, looking at Jem.  
Will followed his gaze and froze, Jems brow had furrowed and his breathing was erratic. He rushed to Jem and crouched by his side

"Shit okay- James its okay. I'm here. Calm down its not real..." He said softly and he heard Dean stop walking behind him.  
Jems eyes stopped moving and his breathing, however shaky, was calming down, "Yes it is..." He murmured softly, his usually light voice heavy with worry.

Will let out an audible breath of relief. Jem was okay. "What do you mean?"

Jems eyes opened and he looked over to Dean "Your friend he-.." He started, cutting off and biting his lip. Making it obvious that he was in pain as he sat up with difficulty 

"He what?!" Dean interrupted urgently, moving close so he was right beside will 

"Calm yourself I was getting there. He's...'here'.Though I'm not sure what that means. I'm assuming you are Dean? He said he tried to come here with you but got caught up with the 'bad guys' , well...that's what he said.."   
Will listened intently and looked at Jem confused, Jem just gave him a 'oh trust me, I have no idea' look as Dean replied, "Oh- oh shit. Is he okay? Where is he? Why did he go to you and not-?"

"Dean..." Jem interrupted softly, "if I may?... He didn't tell me anything. I don't even know anything about him. All I know about him is what he told me...and the only other thing he said was to stay safe."

Dean fell silent, then he stood up straight suddenly as if realising something, "Son of a bitch!" He grumbled and turned away, leaving the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this too short? Too long? I have nooooo idea.


	4. You've got a second chance..

Sherlock was in his temporary room, pacing. He was the only person out of himself, John, Sam, and Dean who did not have to change his clothes much to fit in.

He was trying to wrap his head around the simply outrageous events of that day; Especially The Time travel and the nephilim (the two strange nephilim boys in particular).

Sherlock stopped pacing as he was suddenly made aware of lovely sounding violin music drifting towards his room for 2-  
No, 3 doors away.  
He glanced at the clock and saw that the time was 11:45pm  
It was obviously James that was playing violin, but he was horribly injured last time Sherlock saw him- a mere five hours ago- and should definitely be resting-  
Then again...  
Would Sherlock be resting?

Without another thought he walked out of his room and followed the sound of the music until he was outside the room it was coming from.  
Then he hesitated.  
Sure Sherlock had gathered enough information about James to know that he would certainly not mind one bit if Sherlock walked in, but something seemed insensitive about walking in while James was pouring his emotions into a-

'Woah okay stop Sherlock' he thought to himself 'When did you start thinking about other peoples dull feelings?' 

And then with that he put his hand on the door and soundlessly pushed it open halfway, pausing in the doorway as he took in the room.  
It was both like but unlike his own. It had mostly the same furniture- though James had a chair beside his bed  
And It was roughly the same shape as his room..

Sherlocks eyes scanned the room looking for more details,  
The bed was perfectly made.  
All of his possessions were neat.  
The arms of the chair in front of the fire were a little torn though- by fingers?  
The window-  
In front of the window was James, facing the window and playing the violin, he was obviously ready for bed with his dark trousers, bare feet, and loose white shirt, and his silver hair was rumpled.

As James' hand sawed back and forward gracefully with the bow, Sherlock saw there was blood on his sleeve- relatively fresh, from about half an hour ago?-

"Will? William is that you?" James said suddenly, his song drawing to an end

Sherlock panicked for a moment, why? He wasn't sure. But by the time James had turned around he had regained his posture and James smiled at him, surprise evident in his eyes 

"You're not Will.. " he murmured and before Sherlock could reply, he continued "You are called Sherlock, right?"

Sherlock blinked and then nodded, "Yes. Sherlock holmes. And you are James Carstairs?"

"Jem. Most people call me Jem- you can too. it's less formal. I prefer it..."James- no, Jem said with a smile, his eyes scanning sherlocks face before he walked forward, swapped his violin from his left hand to his right hand, and held out his left hand for Sherlock to shake. Sherlock watched Jems every move curiously and shook his hand 

"How did you know?" He said once Jem took his hand away

"Pardon?" Jem said confused as he turned to put his violin away in a rosewood box  
Sherlock found himself watching the way Jem was moving again, he had a graceful way of moving- graceful and careful. He walked to his wardrobe and placed the violin box on top of it, turning to Sherlock and waiting for an answer, a silvery eyebrow raised

"I uh...I.." Sherlock knew he sounded slightly dazed, but he wasn't fully out of his thoughts, so he cleared his throat and continued "You reached out to shake my hand with your left hand, but you are right handed. So you obviously only held out your left hand because you realised I am also right handed, correct? How did you know? Or did you guess?"

Jem just smiled, a bright, warm smile that Sherlock knew probably brightened up whichever room he was in for the people around him; without him knowing, of course. 

"You opened the door with your right hand, did you not? And your index finger on your right hand was twitching a tad. Is that a normal tick or one you only have when you are curious?" He said simply and Sherlock raised his chin slightly 

"You weren't looking at me when I opened the door."

"I heard it-"

"You heard that I opened it with my right hand?"

Jem smiled again, something close to amusement glittering in his pale eyes and Sherlock blinked, not understanding why he was amused

"Mr Holmes, I have been in this room for almost six years. If you open the door with your left hand it creaks- not sure why. Though if it's opened with your right hand it lets out nothing but a small crack."

Sherlock blinked again, then smiled slightly. Oh he was clever... That'll make interaction a whole lot easier.

"Well you have good observational skills, Mr Carstairs. And i would very much like to test them.." He said honestly, exaggeration on the 'Mr Carstairs' slightly in hope that Jem would pick up on the fact that he would rather use first names

"And how exactly do you plan on doing that, then? Sherlock?" Jem said hesitantly, picking up on sherlocks hint.  
Sherlocks smile grew into a small grin.

"Deductions."

"Deductions? Am I supposed to- oh. A game of deductions? Is that what you mean?"

Sherlock nodded, "A game."

"I see. what will this game be based on?" Jem had leaned against his bed post and was watching Sherlock, who was walking around, with curious eyes.  
Sherlock stopped moving and smirked "Each other. You will say what you've deduced about me and I will do the same for you."

Jem's expression changed then. It was a very very slight, brief change, but Sherlock caught the worry/ fear in his eyes.  
His illness..He still worries about it being brought up. Why?  
Or is it his parents he worries about-

"Deal. Shall I go first?" Jem said suddenly with an unusually sure, clear voice that contradicted his previous expression; which too had cleared.  
Sherlock blinked and then regained his posture and nodded, 

"Of course, by all means" he said with a 'go ahead' nod.

Jem looked Sherlock up and down briskly, twisting his ring in what Sherlock was guessing was a habitual gesture that he probably wasn't even aware of.

"Well...You're around 29. You're British- completely British, but you lived in the country as a child and now you live here. You have an older brother..He thinks he's better than you? Smarter? You believe him but obviously you wouldn't let him know that. You don't see your parents often, only on special occasions. You play violin! Marvellous. Did you use to have a dog? Cocker spaniel? Sherlock isn't your first name, either. I'm guessing it's William. By the way you looked over when I called will. Do you really think you are a sociopath? That's preposterous. I'd say that John is the me of your relationship. He keeps you grounded. You're obviously an unusually smart man. littttle bit mental- but most people are. You-" he cut off, completely still. Not even twisting his ring, then he averted his eyes, avoiding sherlocks gaze. Quite deliberately, Sherlock noticed. "That's all.."

Sherlock raised an eyebrow. Jem was lying.  
What had he deduced that made him so uncomfortable that he lied.

"You are correct but No it's not." 

Sherlock had said before he realised and Jem shuffled a little, looking back up at Sherlock with a clear, unreadable gaze.

"For me, it is. Now.. Now it's your turn."

Sherlock hesitated as he noticed Jems posture. He had tensed slightly and was twisting his ring again.  
Sherlock had never hesitated to deduce before, it was his thing.  
But something about this boy made him reluctant to say anything that might dull that light in his eyes any further than it had just dulled.  
But Jem wouldn't want pity.

"You are seventeen years old. Half Chinese half British, spent your childhood in Shanghai? Then came here at around 12 years old. No siblings. You play violin because one of your parents did too. Your father, probably. You're an orphan. Watched your parents die- sort of.. You're..critically ill and you're dying. Have been for six-seven years. I'm going to go out on a limb and say you weren't expected to live past 14? This makes William more over protective of you than he would be if you weren't Ill. Onto William, he's like your unbiological brother- probably closer than that. You would doubtlessly do almost anything for eachother. You have a cat- the blue Persian with yellow eyes that tried to bite John. Was that chair beside your bed place there so William could sit with you while you were sleeping; while you were ill?" 

He rambled through his deductions in a baritone voice, which only wavered slightly at the question at the end.

Jem nodded slightly, his expression unreadable, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth 

"Will decided it was a much needed piece of furniture...moved it up himself while I was asleep. As for everything else, you are correct."

Sherlock nodded absently, studying Jems face very closely in an attempt to find out what he was thinking- what he was..feeling.  
But the only hint to that was that his gaze had intensified and seemed a little cloudy- and his breathing seemed to have gone a little ragged and irregular. But not in a way that would erupt from hearing sherlocks deductions-

"Jem are you-" 

he started, taking two steps towards him, but Jem half staggered back so that his back hit the bed post and opened his mouth to speak, only to be doubled over by a fit of hard coughing that was so violent it shook his thin fragile frame-  
The illness?  
Sherlock didn't know what to do. He stepped towards Jem again, slightly dazed, and saw that Jem had one hand clutched over his stomach, the other one covering his mouth. He had stopped coughing but was breathing harshly.

"James-"  
Sherlock started, moving his arm as if to reach up, and Jem looked up at him through the silver hair that had fallen in front of his face, showing Sherlock how much his iris' had paled. They were such a dull silver...  
Then Jem straightened up and removed his hand from his mouth.  
Blood.  
Way more blood than could be right.  
His hand was covered in blood.  
There was blood at the side of his mouth..  
Immediately Sherlock was scanning through his brain at 90mph trying to deduce what Jems illness was.

It could be Bronchitis? That is the most common cause of coughing up blood. ...  
Bronchiectasis?  
Lung cancer or non-malignant lung tumors.?  
Maybe Pneumonia...  
Pulmonary embolism.  
Congestive heart failure, especially due to mitral stenosis?  
Tuberculosis?

Before Sherlock could even talk out loud Jem had walked over to his bedside table in silence, picking up a handkerchief and wiping the blood off his hands, forgetting about the blood at his mouth as he poured a glass of water and then turned to look at Sherlock suddenly, as if he had forgotten he were there

"I-...Uhm I..uh.." 

Jem stuttered out slightly, and Sherlock forced his face into a neutral expression,

"What just happened?- no that's a stupid question. It was your illness. But I do not know any illnesses that do what seems to be happening to you.." 

Jem looked at Sherlock in silence for a moment.  
His hands were shaking and the silver of his eyes was pale, the pupil small. He looked unsteady on his feet, as if he might fall.

"It's not as simple as you'd be lead to believe" he said finally, averting his eyes and adding hastily "..I have medicine and I'll be fine but it's...I'm sorry it's probably best that you go."

Jem turned around to face his bedside table and Sherlock scoffed,  
Sherlock? Leave when there's something he doesn't know?  
Never.

"Mm I don't think so."

Jem stilled at that, and once he stilled he stumbled and suddenly sat down on his bed as if he couldn't stand anymore, he looked down and sighed

"you want an explanation."

"Of course." Sherlock said simply, though he wasn't completely sure he did. Well, he did but should he know? He wasn't sure that this information would be pleasant- in fact he knew it wouldn't be. And by the look on Jems face, that completely drained expression that is Worse than blank, the information also makes him uncomfortable 

"Alright then...I suppose I probably do owe you an explanation, anyway. After that." 

Jem said mildly, running a hand through his hair and trying to stand up, only to collapse back down on his bed with a small sigh, then he reached over and lifted a silver box and a glass of water

"What's in that box?" 

Sherlock asked curiously, walking over to Jem and attempting to ignore the fact that this young boy was currently in such a state that he couldn't even support his own weight. 

Jem opened the box to reveal it was half full of silver powder. Sherlock leaned in closer to try and decipher what it was but Jem moved it away

"No, Sherlock, don't... It's unsafe. For you to even touch it- to breath it in.. Would be...dangerous..." 

Sherlock heard everything in those words. He heard fear and shame...and he heard tiredness.

"Then how do you use it?- Oooh...I see. This is your...medicine. But it's dangerous to other people?"

Jem nodded,

"Sherlock I can tell you everything..."

Jem said quietly and Sherlock nodded, leaning against the bedpost

"Oh please.. Do."

Jem took a breath, 

"You spoke of my parents. I did watch them die- in a way. They were killed by a demon.. Yanluo.." 

He said with hatred in his tired voice,

"the demon had a grudge against my mother. She was responsible for the death of a number of its demon offspring. They had a nest in a small town called Lijang where they'd be feeding on small children. She burned the nest out and escaped before Yanluo found her. The demon bided it's time for years- greater demons live forever, but never forget. When I was eleven, Yanluo found a weak spot in the wards that protected the institute, and tunnelled inside. It killed the guards and took my family prisoner, binding us all to chairs in the great room of the house... Then it went to work. Yanluo tortured me in front of my parents.." 

Sherlock watched in shock as Jem went on, his voice empty, 

"over and over it injected me with demon poison that scorched my veins and tore at my mind. For two days I went in and out of hallucinations and dreams. I saw the world drowned in rivers of blood, and I heard the screams of the dead and dying throughout history. I saw London burning and great Metal creatures striding here and there like huge spiders-"  
he caught his breath. He was very pale, his nightshirt sticking to his chest with sweat, but he waved away sherlocks attempt to move forward in concern,  
"every few hours i would come back to reality long enough to hear my parents screaming for me. Then on the second day I only heard my mother. My father had been silenced. My mothers voice was raw and cracked but she was still calling for me. Saying my name.. Not in English, but the name she gave me when I was born; Jian. I still hear her calling sometimes... Calling out for me.."  
He was twisting his fingers in an obvious nervous-type of habit. Sherlock knew he should stop him. 

"James" he said cautiously "you can stop, I changed my mind I- I don't need to know it all now"

But Jem didn't look up, "There is a man- an enemy of the nephilim, who I believe probably made his money smuggling opium. The British bring opium into China by the ton. They've made a nation of addicts out of us. In China we Call it 'foreign mud' or 'black smoke'. In some ways Shanghai, my city, is built on opium. It wouldn't exist as it does without it. The city is full of dens where hollow eyed men starve to death because all they want is the drug. They'll give anything for it. I-I used to despise Men like that. I didn't understand how they were so weak." 

He took a deep breath. 

"By the time the Shanghai enclave became worried at the silence from the institute and broke in to save us, both my parents were already dead. I don't remember much of it. I was screaming and delirious. They took me to the silent brothers, who healed my body the best they could. There was one thing they couldn't fix, though. I had become addicted to the substance the demon poisoned me with. My body was dependant On it the way an opium addicts body is dependant on the drug. They tried to wean me off it, but going without it caused terrible pain. Even when they were able to block the pain with warlock spells, the lack of the drug pushed my body to the brink of death. After weeks of experimentation they decided there was nothing they could do. The drug itself means a slow death, but to take my off it would mean a very quick one..."

"Weeks of experimentation?" 

Sherlock echoed bitterly,

"when you were only eleven years old? That seems cruel- and If I think it's cruel then it is."

He said as he looked at a silver box on Jems knee, Jem closed his eyes gently

"Goodness- real goodness, has its own sort of cruelty. I came to the London institute, after all that, when I was twelve .."

He looked down at the box and Sherlock saw the opportunity to ask one of his many questions,  
"Who is she? That woman? On your box?.." He asked, although he would have liked to ask about Jems birthday. If he was 11 when they started experimenting, and 12 when he got to the Institute then there was a birthday somewhere in there..

"Kwan yin. The goddess of mercy and compassion. They say she hears every cry of suffering and does what she can to answer it. I thought perhaps if I kept the cause of my suffering in a box with her image on it, it might make that suffering a little less."  
He flicked open the clasp and the box and the lid slid back, revealing the silvery powder that almost perfectly matches Jems eyes again, "this is the drug. It comes from a warlock dealer in lime house. I take some everyday. It's why I look so- so Ghostly. It drains the colour from my eyes, skin and hair... I sometimes wonder if my parents would even recognise me.." His voice trailed off "if I need to fight I take more. Taking less weakens me. That's part of the reason why I collapsed today. Because of the drug. Without any in my system, the running and fighting and the demon venom was too much for me and my body started feeding on itself...and I couldn't stay conscious."

He spoke these words so simply that Sherlock was almost caught of guard. He was speaking of his own death 

"And you need to take some now, don't you?" He said now standing up straight, his hands clasped behind his back 

"I do. Yes.. I had some earlier but it was used up to heal my body.."

"How do you take it?" Sherlock was bursting with questions that he didn't want to ask. Questions that even he knew were insensitive. And he had just found out so many startling details about this boy's life

"Many ways. I prefer to take it in water though..." Jem hadn't looked up since he started talking and his voice was startlingly exhausted sounding.

"James?" Sherlock tried, bending down to look at Jem.  
His eyes were closed and his breathing was irregular, he was barely conscious and didn't reply.

"James? Listen to me. Stay awake you need to take the medicine." Sherlock said urgently, taking the glass of water off Jem but not touching the yin fen.  
Jems eyes fluttered so they were open a little bit and he raised his head weakly to look at Sherlock.

Sherlock had to stifle a small overly dramatic gasp. Jems cheeks looked hollow and his whole face was pale. His irises were practically white, almost blending in with the rest of his eyeball. His pupil was so... So small.

"Y-yes of course I apologise..."

He nodded and reached into the box with shaking fingers, taking out a small amount of the powder and putting it into the water that Sherlock was holding. Then he took the glass and downed the mixture.

Just at that moment William- Will. Jems friend.  
Walked in the door and Sherlock looked up at him, standing up straight.  
Jem also made a move to turn but got half way and stopped dead as if he could turn any more

"James I- James!"

Will spoke softly at first but then he much have noticed Jems posture or the blood or something and his voice became panicked as he rushed over.  
Sherlock stepped back; stepped a few paces away from the scene to give them space.

"William I'm..fine." 

Jems soft voice was as reassuring as he could make it, but Sherlock still heard the weariness.  
Will kneeled In front of him, looking up at his face with a worried expression,

"James I- I told you that you needed to take your medicine and get some rest. When I heard your violin stop I thought you had finally went through with my request..."

The boys voice cracked half way through and Sherlock now knew that he was interrupting a private scene. But he couldn't just leave?

"I apologise, William, I do. I got..somewhat caught up talking to...to.."

Jems eyes fluttered as he spoke, making it obvious that he was struggling to stay awake

"Who?.. James what-" 

Will turned around and saw Sherlock, all the soft worry leaving his expression and being replaced with sharp anger.

"You. Again?"

"Good morning to you too."

Sherlock replied in a clear fake-cheery voice and will scowled, standing up and walking to the door,

"Leave."

He spoke this simple command so simply... Sherlock stared at the boy curiously. He had already deduced everything he could but there was something..something he- suddenly Wills hand was clasped around his upper arm with a strangely strong grip and he was being led to the door,

"I don't appreciate being man-handled, Mr Herondale."

Sherlock said once they reached the door and will just looked at him with a sharp glare, but Sherlock was looking over his shoulder at Jem, who had fallen sideways on the bed and was unconscious 

"And I don't like people distracting my Parabatai from taking care of his own health. He was coughing, wasn't he? And you saw. And I'm willing to bet you asked lots of juicy little questions and wore him down to the bone and now he is unconscious! Good night!"

William said bitterly and angrily, and then closed the door in sherlocks face.  
What an interesting night, Sherlock thought as he turned and walked away


	5. You could go home...

Sam had spent the first night in the library, reading books about shadowhunters and demons until he fell asleep-   
only to be woken up by the sound of footsteps and then the library door creaking shut. He lifted his head and saw that the door was closed..  
But who closed the door? No one was inside the library and everyone should be asleep.  
He picked up an iron fire poker and stood up, walking cautiously to the door and opening it noiselessly, poking his head out to see the figure of someone with black hair turning the corner, he then relaxed a bit.  
Was it that William guy?

After thinking it through for a moment, Sam started walking after him, staying far enough behind that he wasn't noticed and ducking behind things when needed until they reached the doors and Sam realised that he would have to run to get to them before they closed, but that's not exactly what he did, though.  
William flung the doors open wide and walked out, leaving the doors to slowly start closing, giving Sam enough time to walk out after will and-  
Holy Chuck it was freezing out here why would anyone who lives in London ever leave the house?  
William turned up the collar of his coat and proceeded to walk down the steps and out into the dark streets of London, Sam following close but far enough so that he wasn't seen.  
He reallllly hoped that William would be able to lead him back after his little walk, or else he was really, realllly fucking screwed.

They must have been walking for around two hours when will stopped half way across a bridge and leaned against the parapet, half hidden in shadows.  
Sam stood hidden at the bottom of the bridge, peeking up when he heard a knife. 

"You're Sam, right? You shouldn't have followed me. Streets are full of all sorts of nasty things at this time of night- and there are demons too." The boy called and Sam silently cursed before standing up straight and walking towards will.

"I was curious. And I can handle nasty things... I doubt anything in London will surprise me."

Will scoffed and looked towards the ground, twirling a knife as the wind blew his hair everywhere,

"I bet I can surprise you." He said grinning as he looked at Sam, still half hidden in shadows.

"How much?"

Will twirled his knife faster and smirked, "Tell me, do you actually have any 1800s British money?"

Sam thought for a moment, "Hm..I guess not."

"Then if I surprise you, you can't follow me again. Simple, really."

Sam smiled, "you really can't surprise me- I've met lucifer-- little more than met actually.."

The boy grinned and stepped out of the shadows, "But you haven't met me." He said with a casual shrug and he took a glowing stone from his pocket 

"A...glowing rock? Wow." Sam said sarcastically and the boy chuckled darkly 

"The witch light isn't my surprise." He said as he turned and threw it away towards the water, then he turned back to Sam, "Just don't tell Jem." He winked and jumped off the bridge.

Sam rushed to the side of the bridge. Was this guy insane?   
He looked down into the water and saw nothing.   
No Will.  
No light.

"Awe I didn't know you cared!" Came a mocking voice from behind him and Sam turned around to see will leaning against the parapet holding the glowing rock, completely dry.

"But... Sherlock said you were definitely human so how-"

"Shadowhunter stuff. Not important. Not surprising-- but you still can't tell Jem. Now, keep up." He said and then turned and ran off.

Sam made a move to follow him but by the time he had started, Will had disappeared from view 

"Oh don't just give up like that! You didn't even try to follow me!"

Sam looked up and saw will now sitting on the edge of the pillar beside him

"How did you even get up there!"

"I'm not explaining this every time. I don't have the patience for that." The boy sounded bored as he dropped back and let himself fall off the bridge again.

"Ha ha nice try. But I know-"

There was a series of splashes and Sam looked down to see will hanging off the bridge by one hand and grinning down at the water-  
No... He was grinning at a giant squid.

There was a giant black squid thrashing around and trying to get to will with its tentacles.

Will just laughed and let go of the bridge, gripping a tentacle and drawing a glass sword that--

A glass sword that was glowing. What the actual shit?  
What was happening? There's an unusually angelic human, a giant squid and a glowing sword

"Pause the surprise for a minute!" Will shouted as he swung his blade and cut off the tentacle he was holding, causing him to fall into the water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for how short and terrible this chapter is! I wrote it an hour ago because I felt bad for being busy and unable to update :( Anyway, Feedback is always welcome! Thanks for reading <3


	6. Escape it all...

Will fell straight through the water and Into the clutch of a leviathan demon.

He held his breath as he drove his blade into the soft sensitive skin of the demons tentacle and swam to the Surface to breath, the cold air hitting a fresh wound on his cheek like acid. He looked up and grinned at the American, who was staring down at him in shock.  
Ha..Mundanes.  
He winked and dived back under the water as he felt a tentacle start to grip his leg, swinging his seraph blade swiftly and slicing across the tentacle that was slowly wrapping around his torso. He manage to sever it before it started to squeeze the air out of him, but the seraph blade also caught his thigh, cutting through the fabric of his trousers and slicing his leg.

"Ah-" will started, before realising he was underwater and looking around him, desperate for a way to escape before he was forced to swallow the salty water in his mouth.

But he was surrounded with tentacles. So he took a risk. A risk that Jem would definitely scold him for.  
He took out a seraph dagger and swam under the leviathan demon, swerving multiple times to avoid the tentacles trying to grab him. Then he threw the dagger straight into the place which held the demons heart. While the beast was dying it used its last strength to project many thin, sharp needles into Wills shoulder blade as he swam to the surface of the water desperately.

When he resurfaced he gasped in air and moved his damp hair out of his face, not bothering to look at the American as he gripped one of the pillars that was supporting the bridge and started to climb up with slight difficultly.

When he reached the bridge, Sam ran over to him, 

"Dude what the hell! I know you're this badass demon hunter Angel thing but-"

"There's that word again. 'Dude' it sounds very foreign." Will interrupted with practiced casualness as he walked past sam, limping a little as blood slowly soaked through his trousers

"Hey wait! There are little thingys in your shoulder.." Sam said reaching out as if to remove one of the many spikes from Will's shoulder, but Will spun around and caught his wrist,

"No! Don't take them out yet! Are you stupid? I still have to surprise you!"

Sam blinked at the teenager in front of him, who was half glaring at him,

"Dude-- Will, if you think that didn't just surprise me then..."

"Are you- are you joking? A little leviathan demon surprised you? Mundanes." Will snorted and started to walk away, Sam hurrying to keep up with him,

"Wait! Leviathan?-- LITTLE?"

Will glanced at him and rolled his eyes, "Please, that little thing hadn't even hit adolescence yet. Jem and I had to deal with Mummy Leviathan last week. Jem almost drowned." He said casually, though Sam caught the bitter worry at the end.

"Where are you going now?" Sam changed the subject

"The institute. I have to get these god forsaken things out of my shoulder--" 

"Will you not need help with that? They're in a pretty awkward place-- and you're limping and there's a lot of blood soaking your pants.." Sam put in cautiously, in what Dean would have called his 'Mommy Sam voice'

"Samuel, I'm 17. I've been pulling sharp things from 'awkward places' since I was 13. And I can handle myself." Will retorted bitterly as he wiped his seraph blade on his jacket sleeve

13? That's almost as bad as Dean's hunting life...  
Sam went over what to say for a moment, but had no idea. 

Until Will stopped walking suddenly and Sam walked into the back of him, 

"Ow! Fuck!" The teenager muttered out between clenched teeth, before holding up his finger to his mouth it a 'don't talk.' Gesture.  
Sam looked at him guiltily and looked around him to see why they had to be quiet.

It was a large, strange shaped creature with tentacles and scales..  
What the fuck?

William pulled out his glass blade and muttered something, turning to Sam and whispering, "Stay here. I mean-- unless you want demon poison to kill you.." He muttered the last part as he strolled casually towards the demon.

Sam contemplated that for a moment, will was hurt... And Sam could probably help him with the demon, right?

The demon turned towards will and hissed, backing away and swinging a tentacle at him.

"Now now... I'm not in the mood for your trumpery." William scolded as he lunged at the demon, who flailed and tried to run away, only to get trapped when will ended up on top of it with a seraph blade at it's throat.

Sam watched in complete horror as the demon shifted and looked like a human being with messy blonde hair and work clothes, "H-Hold on! Don't kill me! I haven't done anything!" He cried but will didn't move, the blade digging slightly further into the demons now human looking throat,

"That's new. Never had a demon that's tried to bargain with me this far into a hunt.." Will sounded coldly amused now and Sam bit his lip, watching the demons green eyes scan Will's face, before a lazy grin formed

"William Herondale? Of the London institute?" 

Will hesitated, "Why does it matter? You're going to die anyway.."

"Hmm..." The demon tilted is head back and closed its eyes as it shifted again, this time looking like Jem, wearing his hunting gear,

Sam took a step back with a small 'woah' but silenced himself at the low growl that erupted from the teenagers throat,

"You have no right to wear his face."

"Will-" the demon with Jems face started, but Will's eyes had darkened and he, with a moments hesitation, pushed his blade down and decapitated the demon.

"Dude..." Sam whispered as the Jem-demons eyes widened and his whole body lit on fire and disappeared, leaving a puddle of weird black stuff that had splashed on Will's skin and seemed to be sizzling.

"Will? William?" He tried again as he walked forward, and will stood up and wiped some of the black stuff off his face with a blank expression,

"Come on." He said impatiently and started walking, still limping, the blood now dripping from his trousers.

Sam jogged to keep up and walked in awkward silence for a little bit, "So...What do you guys call shape shifters."

"Read the codex." Will muttered as he walked up the institute steps, his steps slower and his jaw clenched in pain.

"Dude are you okay? You got pretty banged up.."

"Mhm." Was all he muttered as he raised a hand and set it on the doorknob of the institute; causing it to swing open.

Sam followed beside him as he walked in. He took the chance to study the teenager. He was pale, there was a fresh cut across his cheekbone, his face, neck and arms were splashed with black stuff that seemed to be burning his skin, there was a rip in his pants that showed a blood gash that was bleeding everywhere and let's not forget the 12 spikes in his shoulder...

He was startled when will cleared his throat, "I've been talking. Have you been listening?"

Sam blushed and looked down. This boy was like half his age... Why did he feel like the teenager?

"No."

Will sighed, "Go to your bedroom, Sam. If James or anyone sees you and asks why you're awake then don't say anything about me. Make up something smart." He waited for Sam's nod of understanding and then turned and started to walk away,

"Will, wait! Why--"

"Jem would kick my ass." Will replied shortly as he walked upstairs and disappeared round the corner.

Hm, Sam thought, Fair enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry about how short and crappy this is 


	7. It's just irrelevant

John had no idea what the bloody hell was going on.

The kind woman had had a brief chat with them about who the 'shadowhunters' were are what they did, with a few inputs from Sherlock, before the girl-- Sophie, showed them all to their rooms. 

That's where he was now. Sitting on his bed with his eyes closed trying to comprehend everything.  
Demons and Angels and ghosts etcetera took him a while to understand, but now the universe is throwing in a whole new world and John feels like it's going to rip his head apart.

He stands up and opens his eyes, pacing as he rubs a hand down his face. He was in 1887.  
He was in a house made for magical demon hunters, in 1887.

John started to pace. He wondered what Sherlock was doing now...  
Probably sitting on the floor giggling about how exciting this all is.

He stopped pacing to look up at the clock.

"3 in the bloody morning." He muttered to himself, stifling a yawn, "I'm in a house for magical demon killers, in 1887, and its 3 in the bloody morning..."

He started walking towards his bedroom door, because there was no way he was going to get to sleep, only to stop as he heard the floor boards outside creak under the weight of someone.

John had spent enough time with Sherlock to know that whoever was out there was limping. The creaking had slowed and John pressed his ear against the door so he could hear better.

That's when he heard the ragged, uneven breaths and the silent muttering of multiple curse words, followed by a gasp and a loud-ish thump.

That's it.

John opened the door slowly to see the black haired British magic-demon-hunter teenager holding onto the wall across from his room and trying to stand up. His black Victorian clothes were ripped and stained with blood, which was also dripping from his trouser leg, there were burns on his neck and his hair was wet with sweat and-- oh god there were 12 spikey things in his shoulder.

Immediately Johns doctor instincts kicked in and he stepped forward a few paces so that he was behind the boy ( 'what was his name again? William?' John thought absent mindedly) and then he put a hand under his arm and helped his stand up.

The boy spun around and looked down at John with wide, glazed over, panicked blue eyes, "W-what are you doing?!" He demanded but John was too busy examining his face to reply straight away.

He put a hand on Williams chin lightly to keep his face steady as he silently catalogued his facial injuries. There was a shallow cut on his cheek, a split lip, and several nasty burns coated in black goop.

William staggered away from John and his back hit the wall, causing the teenager to make a gasping sort of painful noise and close his eyes, his jaw clenched, "I cannot recall your name, but I remember you are a mundane doctor. And these aren't mundane injuries. You cannot do anything."

John scoffed, "yeah alright, mate. Let me get you back to your room and we'll see how much of that is true."

William opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow, shrugging and starting to walk with John, still limping a lot, "you can't do anything."

"I'm a doctor. I can do more than you think."

"Can you flush the demon venom out of my blood? Can you heal these wounds within five minutes?" William asked mildly, though it was obviously not meant to be mild, as he opened a door and walked in.

John followed after, closing the door, "I suppose not...but you're loosing blood rapidly and I'm all you've got. The spikes are the source of the demon venom, right? So as long as I don't remove them then the poison cannot take full effect. Let me treat the other injuries and then you can do your heal-Y thing."

William blinked at him and kicked off his boots, sitting down on a wooden chair by the fire, making sure his back wasn't near the back of the chair and lifting an object from his pocket.

"This, Doctor, Is a stele. It can heal most of my wounds within minutes."

John came forward so he was in front of the boy, "but if it was that simple then you would have done it already." 

Will sighed and averted his eyes, "I don't have enough energy.." He did look very tired and kind of weak, "I'd require another shadowhunter to do it."

John kneeled down and moved the material of Williams torn trousers out of the way so that he could see the wound, "Then why not wake your friend-- James, right? The one we saw earlier. I heard his on his violin earlier and assumed he was better."

Will sat up straight at that, "No. I-I will not. He needs to rest."

"And the women who greeted me and my friends? Charlotte?" John frowned at the deep cut and stood up, looking around for a first aid kit,

"Charlotte will be asleep with her husband and won't take lightly to be awoken-- check the top shelf."

John did just that and brought down a wooden box full of Victorian medical equipment, kneeling back infront of will and ripping the trousers a little more so he could clean the wound, "Who runs this place?"

"Charlotte." Will said between clenched teeth

"Then I think you should probably tell her. I don't think she'll be happy if you die because you refused to get help.." He threw the bloody mini towel in the fire and took out a needle to stitch the wound.

Will scoffed and closed his eyes, his jaw clenched in pain, "she wouldn't mind. One less thing to worry about."

John tutted and started to stitch the wound closed, "Oh trust me, she will mind. If you don't get someone then I will."

Will's eyes opened wide at that, "you're lying." He sounded unsure, and groggy, "You don't even know where any of their bedrooms are."

John finished the stitching and wiped the blood away gently with another towel, standing up, "Then I'll go to Sherlock and he can show me. Sherlock isn't sleeping, he never sleeps when he's thinking. In fact I'm willing to bet..."

John turned around and sure enough, there was Sherlock. Standing in the doorway, " 'Lo Sherlock. I think we need your assistance."

Will stood up, his gaze full of fire even in this weak state, "No,"

"This is interesting." Sherlock said with a small smile, looking at will, "I've been listening, I know only where Jem's room is. Though finding the others would be simple. Elementary."

John opened his mouth to speak but cut off as will staggered and fell back into the chair, his breaths coming out in gasps. 

Sherlock strode lazily into the room and stood behind will, "11."

"What?" John questioned and Sherlock sighed,

"There are only 11 spikes. There were 12. There is demon venom in his blood stream... I should probably go and get someone.." Sherlock had started to walk out of the room when another person appeared in the doorway, 

"Oh-- This is like a bad episode of Eastenders." John stated and the man in the doorway tilted his head, his blue eyes squinted,

"I don't understand that reference."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! Have a great day everyone!


	8. It's just medicine..

Will stared at the man who had appeared in the doorway with his lips parted in surprise, making his ragged gasps for air louder.   
The man had a cut down the side of his face which was bleeding and his tan trench coat was ripped and stained with dirt and blood.

But that wasn't what made will stare, oh no.  
Will was staring at the soft blue light which surrounded the man; The way his intense blue eyes practically glowed with it and it shone through the cut on his face.

The mans eyes were trained on will as he moved forward and Sherlock raised an eyebrow,

"Where have you been?"

"Busy." Came the short, gravelly reply from the man as he kneeled down to study will, who could feel the energy pulsing out of him 

"Yeah but--" the shorter doctor started, but the man staring at will glanced at him and said, "it is not of import. Go and collect this nephilim's parabatai-- James Carstairs."

That caught Will's attention. As johns and Sherlock both started to leave the room he blinked and straightened, which hurt a lot.

"N-no! James needs to rest! he- he is ill. I-" 

Will cut off, out of breath, and the mans features softened. Understanding was clear in his eyes as his jaw tightened, "William Herondale.." he muttered, "How much of my true form can you see?"

Will furrowed his eyebrows and tried to regain his posture and calm face, "I just see...Light. L-Light surrounding you. What are you?"

"I am Castiel, Angel of the lord."

"Castiel..." will mumbled, then it clicked, "y-you were in james' d-dream.."

Castiel nodded once then frowned, "Leviathan Demon..." he said half to himself, his eyes roaming over wills weak form

Will hesitantly nodded, more scared by this angel than he would ever admit, "..yes...just an infant, really. Caught me as I-it died..."

Castiel raised two fingers towards wills head and will followed them with wide eyes, "Hold on, w-what..." he trailed off as the angels fingers came in contact with his head and a shudder went through his body; his previous drowsiness and pain slipping away until he felt normal, "Thank you...." he finished quietly, confused 

The angel stood up and turned around to the doorway, where Jem was standing in his night clothes with his silver hair ruffled from sleep and his eyes wide, a small smile on his face as his gaze moved from will to Castiel and back, before resting on Castiel,

"Castiel." He said softly, his tone both questioning and stating the word.

"James Carstairs." Castiel said with a slight incline of his head 

Jem just smiled and his gaze moved to will again, and will noticed a particular look in his eye....crap.

"You fought a leviathan without me?" He said slowly, calm as ever, and will grinned a little, shrugging,

"It wasn't what I intended to happen tonight."

Jem sighed, "And there was an eidolon." 

Will raised his eyebrows and stood up, "How did you--" he cut off as Sam appeared behind Jem, his shorter brother beside him, "oh."

Jem opened his mouth to talk but the shorter brother, Dean, beat him to it, "Cas? Where the hell have you been I- we've been worried sick you can't just drop up in the Victorian era and show up in some kids dream and the piss off that's not how--"

"Jem isn't a child." Will muttered as he leaned against his fireplace, Jem smiling slightly and standing beside him with a look that will knew meant for him to not be rude.

"How do you think I was going to react to that?! Why didn't you come to me?!" Dean finished, ignoring will.

Castiel wiped a hand over his cheek and the cut previously there disappeared, "Dean..." he started carefully, "I had to divert the angels. I made sure they couldn't pin point your location. The nephilim are under a few of my brothers' protection, especially these ones, so my siblings will not dare put them in harms way and damage the future. But as for appearing in James' dreams instead of yours it was purely because he can see my true visage easily and without pain, so dreamwalking was easier with him and would draw less attention."

Dean opened his mouth to talk, closed it, looked around at Sam, then turned to Jem, "You can see him?! Like real him with wings and shit? Right now?" He sounded astonished and Jem nodded twice,

"I can see his wings and some light but his true form is only visible if I focus." He said simply, adding for wills benefit, "Like a glamour."

Will turned to his parabatai with wide eyes, "you can see his what now?"

"His wings, dude, keep up." Dean said with an amused smile, though he looked almost as shocked as will, and Sam chuckled.

Jem looked around the room and his suddenly intense gaze rested on the angel, "You and your friends are hiding from the other angels?" 

Castiel nodded, "We...got into quite the predicament. Angels and demons alike are hunting us down."

Will opened his mouth to pry into what happened but Jem raised a hand slightly in wills direction, signalling him not to, and he didn't speak, watching Jem close his eyes for a moment and then open them,

"Very well. I should inform Charlotte of the situation.. God knows how she will react to this at 4:30am. William, don't be rude please, Answer Castiel's questions with minimal sarcasm, and don't try to annoy the brothers... I'll be back soon." He smiled at will and nodded and the brothers and their angel before leaving the room and walking down the hall.

Dean grinned once James left and clapped his hands together, "You know what? This is gonna be one hell of a Q&A."

Will raised an eyebrow, "Pardon me?" 

"Q and A," Castiel explained carefully, "Question and answer. I believe he means that this will be an interesting set of questions and answers."

Dean nodded at castiels explanation, "Yeah."

Will pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment with his eyes closed then sat down in his chair with his eyes half lidded in what could be interpreted as boredom or exasperation, "Right. Of course." He looked at Castiel, "Do you people actually have any proper questions? I'd like to get this out of the way..."

Castiel opened his mouth and then closed it in a way that made his cheeks dimple, "I, personally, have no questions that you could answer..." 

Sam looked at Dean with a questioning gaze which Will caught and smiled, 

"You do? I thought I answered your questions well enough on the bridge." He said with both eyebrows raised 

Sam smiled slightly, "Uh...no. You were surprisingly vague, actually. 'Shadowhunter stuff' and 'check the codex' were your answers..."

Castiel smiled very slightly at the mention of the codex and he looked down as will shrugged,

"I had to study the codex. So did James. Half of the information we can provide comes from that." He said gesturing in the vague direction of the codex, which was on his fireplace.

Dean looked at the book momentarily then chuckled a little, "there's no way you can remember all of that, though... So it would be more accurate right?"

Will shook his head, "I remember every word. Every picture. And I have enough first hand experiences to fill my own codex."

"How--" Sam started, but Cas' voice cut him off,

"Mnemosyne."

"Yeah Gesundheit Cas..." Dean started,

"No, Dean. Mnemosyne rune. He has one below his collar bone. It enhances memory..."

Will smirked, "Indeed."

"...prove it then. If you know the codex word for word... What's a demon to you guys? Like the definition?" Dean said hesitantly and will grinned, quoting,

"The term demons is the generally accepted word used to refer to the creatures the Shadowhunters fight because of the varying terms and concepts among different belief systems and world cultures among mundanes, Shadowhunters, Downworlders, and even angels." He paused momentarily to glance at Castiel, "It was also the term Jonathan Shadowhunter used based on his own religious history. 

On the Earth dimension, demons take different forms, though whether it is their true form is a mystery. Demons are easily recognizable, unless they are shapeshifters. Demons almost always take on monstrous appearances on Earth, and they can also usually be discerned by the uncanny, nauseating feeling that bellows around them like a dark aura. In addition to their general hideousness, demons often carry with them a debilitating scent of death that can be very strong.   
Demons' bodies are kept fresh by ichor. Their ichor, infused with demon energies, is black, with a slight green tint, and viscous, as opposed to the blood of angels, and is thinner than human blood but totally opaque. While ichor is not generally dangerous, it is somewhat toxic, and some are acidic and can burn what it touches. While the usual range of protective Marks protect from this, many demons are still poisonous, wherein the healing rune iratze is ineffective.   
Demons are powered by a roiling demon energy, a vitalizing spark that maintains their form in the corporeal dimension, as opposed to souls of other beings. When demons die, this energy is separated from its physical body and will return to its home dimension, Hell; others, particularly "Greater demons", are shattered into pieces and scattered in between worlds, taking them centuries to reform.   
To human eyes, their disappearance can take many forms, depending on the type of demon. Some explode or burst into dust, some fade from view, and some crumple into themselves. Some leave behind ashes or smoke, depending on the manner of its death. In all cases, however, no remnant of the demon's physical self remain in the corporeal world. Warlock rituals exist that can "preserve" demonic physicality in the corporeal world, allowing one to collect and keep such a thing as a vial of demon blood without its vanishing when its demon source is dispatched. An example of a container for demons is the Pyxis.

Most common demons cannot speak human languages. A large number of types are, however, able to parrot human speech that they have heard. This is often a sign that a demon has been summoned rather than coming to Earth on its own. There are a number of demon languages that the Nephilim and warlocks have identified and learned, including Purgatic, Gehennic and Tartarian. 

Demons live on pain and suffering, on the cries and agony of the damned in torment. Demons also take pleasure in feeding on happy memories freely given to them by humans—memories that disappear from the person's mind once devoured by the demon—which they usually gain in exchange for favors, such as when they are summoned."

Sam and dean stared at him blankly and cas had a small, somewhat proud smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Mind if I...check?" Sam said hesitantly and will stood up, lifting the codex and flipping through it until he reached the section on demons, then he gave it to Sam who read it in silence and then smiled, 

"I can assure you," Cas provided, "His recollection is perfect. Word for word. He even paused in the correct places, Do you know the punctuation?"

"Of course."

Dean grinned and looked at Sam, "Pretty awesome."

Sam was still reading the codex, on the page with a few examples of runes

"Hey, Mundane-- Sam? Don't read them it might--"

Before will got to finish Sam's brow furrowed and he dropped the book as he clutched at his head with a muttered, "Son of a bitch!"

Will had moved swiftly and caught the codex, "Not the brightest, are you? Those runes were marked on specially with a stele. Mundanes or nephilim children without their first marks must study them slowly at first or they get...overwhelmed." He didn't sound sympathetic as he frowned up at Sam.

Castiel plucked the codex gently from wills hands with a mumbled, 'May I?' And started to look through it as Dean and Sam exchanged whispered words that will assumed were about deans worry.

"No more questions?" Will asked, allowing a tint of hope to enter his voice, 

Dean looked up and something mischievous sparked in his green eyes, "How old are you again? Do I need to put a child filter on?"

Will opened his mouth but it was cas who spoke first, "Dean...I don't believe that--"

"I'm 17, I know you're dreadfully dim witted and may not have taken it upon yourself to learn the difference between a summoning spell and a cake recipe but a shadowhunter is considered fully adult at 18. Believe me, Dean, you may be older than me but you'll find that I happen to be superior in all other fields." 

Dean smirked at acid in wills tone as the boy turned away and ran a hand through his hair, making dean wondering momentarily if he was mentally counting to ten or something

"Yeah, sure kid." He mumbled half to himself and went to turn towards the door to leave, but within a split second Will had glanced at Castiel, who simply inclined his head, with his eyebrows up and then sprang into action.

Dean was on his stomach on the floor with his arm twisted behind his back and a knee jammed painfully into the bottom of his spine in two seconds flat with the teenager leaning close to his ear and whispering, "I'm really not a child."

"Okay, buddy. Mind letting me up, then?" Dean said a little higher than usual

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this is really bad ❤️ I've been staying overnight at my friends house for two nights straight and I haven't got any sleep, so this happened 


	9. Medicine...

As soon as Jem had left wills bedroom Sherlock was walking beside him, asking one particular question. Jem didn't mind.  
of course he didn't, but he wasn't sure of the answer to it.

"Why do you think you can see Castiel's true form? You see I had assumed it was the angel blood that you nephilim possess, but William can't see what you can see so it has to be something different about you." He started as casually as was possible for Sherlock, although Jem caught the frustration and answered as softly and reassuringly as possible,

"I assure you, Sherlock, I do not know. There is nothing special about me that would give me the ability to see angels, though. I assume that it is random trait."

Sherlock, though, didn't seem satisfied with this answer.

"I don't like not knowing, James. I need to know what's different about you. You don't understand--"

"In all respect, Sherlock, I believe I do. You are used to knowing everything. So...not understanding why, out of all of the shadowhunters in this institute, I am the one who can see Castiel is most likely a tad frustrating. And I truly am sorry that I can not provide you with any answers. Perhaps Castiel will have an explanation for you..."

Jem walked down the corridor that lead to charlotte and Henry's room and Sherlock let out a groan of frustration, "There has to be something! I've considered everything. Everything. But I have nothing to cross reference your life with. I know no one else who can see angels' true form!"

Jem regarded Sherlock with a sympathetic look and knocked on charlotte and Henry's door three times, straightening his posture with his hands behind his back as he waited for charlotte to open the door.

Barely a minute later, Charlotte opened the door with a dressing down pulled over her night dress, her hair barely contained in a bun and messy from sleep.

"James. What's wrong?"

Jem smiled apologetically, "I am sorry for waking you up but I-- Well, there's a new visitor at the institute and I thought I better explain his presence instead of letting you find out by yourself..."

Charlotte looked between Sherlock and James, "Right. Of course. Naturally. Henry! Get dressed, dear." She called over her shoulder, then turned back to Jem, "We will be in the drawing room. Get everyone who is awake gathered. Do none of you lot sleep?"

Sherlock opened his mouth but she had already closed the door, "Rhetorical. Ah."

"I'm afraid so.." Jem offered a smile, "Right, then. Shall we go and gather everyone together then? That'll be easy enough...I'm sure they've been getting along fine." he said as they walked, though anyone could have told you that he didn't believe it.

***

When Sherlock and Jem arrived back at wills room, neither of them were surprised to see dean being pinned to the ground by Will.  
In fact, They shared a glance before Jem cleared his throat, now looking at Will with a look that seemed almost disappointed 

"William. Get off Dean."

Will raised his head at the sound of his parabatai voice and then hesitantly stood up, running a hand through his hair and dean also stood,

"Thanks." Dean said straightening his jacket as he moved to stand beside Sam and Castiel, 

"James--"

"Not right now, William." Jem said shortly and then turned to the group with a small calm smile, "Charlotte wants to meet with all of you in the drawing room."

"Did you tell her about Cas?" Sam asked 

"Yes-- well, he told her that there was a visitor. Though he neglected to mention the angel factor." Sherlock answered, resulting in a small squint from cas,

"Why not?"

"Well, I don't think she was quite awake enough for me to tell her that there was an angel in her institute. She isn't a morning person, though she will pretend to be if it is required." The teenager said while leading everyone towards the drawing room.

"Not a morning person." Will retorted, "I accidentally woke her up at four in the morning when I was fifteen and she almost stabbed me."

"Will, you crashed through her bedroom door at four in the morning HIGHLY intoxicated and she is a shadowhunter, what did you expect?" Jem replied easily and the two Winchester brothers glanced at each other.

They arrived at the drawing room and all clambered in, Castiel standing in front of the unlit fire as Jem crouched down and attempted to get it lit, Will sprawled out on a small elegant chair, Sam and dean sitting uncomfortably on a high backed sofa and Sherlock standing behind them, not bothering to try and find a seat.

The fire suddenly ignited, heat and light flooded the room,

"Let there be light!" Dean mumbled and Cas squinted at him,

"I don't see what the creation of everything has to do with an ignis rune setting some wood on fire."

"No, Cas--"

"Interesting. Is this our new visitor?" Came Charlottes voice from the doorway, where she was standing with a dressing gown thrown over her night dress, Henry beside her in his night clothes.

"I am Castiel." Cas said with an incline of his head, "It's nice to meet you, Charlotte Branwell."

 

Charlotte instantly seemed interested as she walked into the room and up to Castiel, "Castiel." She said as if tasting the name, "I have heard that name before."

"I would think so, Charlotte, you studied angels for a long time. One must name their seraph blade properly, right?"

The whole room fell silent for a moment, "Are you a shadowhunter?" Charlotte said finally and will chuckled, turning his head to the side and lifting two fingers to rest covering his mouth,

"No, I am an angel of the lord."

Charlottes face drained of all colour,

"Darling...Maybe you should sit down." Henry said walking up to Charlotte and putting a hand on her shoulder,

Sam stood up to allow room for Charlotte and dean followed hesitantly, but the woman didn't move,

"D-do you take me for a fool? I--"

"Charlotte, if I may..." Jem said politely, "He is definitely an angel..He has showed it in more ways than one."

"How so?" She said timidly

"Well he healed me, for one. Leviathan venom all through my veins, bruised ribs, severed hamstring, lots of blood loss... All healed with a touch." Will intercepted easily,

She walked up close to Castiel and her husband watched cautiously, but the scene was quite funny.

A small, brown haired girl who was almost a foot smaller than Cas was staring up at him with a seriousness that could rival his own, "Hm. Alright, then. I suppose I should thank you for healing will after his latest act of stupidity but...why are you here?"

"It is the safest place.." Cas answered simply, "My brother wouldn't let other angels lay waste to the members of this institute, it is important to future events."

"Yeah I have a question about that!" Will piped in, "What events?"

"Yeah, Cas. What events? My curiosity has been spiked." Dean added, and Charlotte took a step back, still staring up at Cas,

"I...Cannot reveal that information, it seems. You may change your paths if I do."

"Oh and we can't have that." Sherlock spoke for the first time in a while, "These people must be VERY important for your brother to actually want to protect him. From what I have read it seems he cares very little about this race."

"No he just.." Castiel sighed, "Raziel is stubborn. He believes himself above other angels because he was the first to answer Jonathan Shadowhunter's call. He sometimes has trouble...pulling his head out of his ass, as Dean would say. But he does care very much about how these nephilims lives play out."

Will scoffed and Jem looked at him sadly, but Sherlock obviously saw an opportunity, "you don't believe him? Why?"

Will smiled lazily and shrugged, "I have no reason to believe angels care about my life or--" he glanced at Jem and cut off, then continued, "So PLEASE forgive me for not believing that angels are watching over us."

Dean tensed slightly and Sam looked at him with sad eyes, Sad eyes that almost perfectly matched the sad look Charlotte was giving will.

"Gwilym." Cas sounded serious, "Your lives have played out exactly how they were supposed to."

"Oh that's much better. That's bloody fantastic. So angels are watching, but they don't give a shit--"

"William that's enough." Neither the winchesters or Sherlock had ever heard Jem with a tone that wasn't calm and polite. So they were more than a bit shocked that the stern voice had come from the teenager, even Will looked a bit uneasy, "I understand what you are saying, of course I do. I see why you would be bitter about this but for god sake, Must you? Right now?"

Charlotte had moved back so she was standing beside Henry and Cas had moved so he was beside the Winchesters.

Will sat up straight and looked at Jem for a moment, their gazes locked in a silent argument, then will sighed and looked away and jems features relaxed into calmness again, "Alright, I apologise, Castiel. Charlotte." He leaned back against the fireplace, "Please, continue..."

Castiel nodded and turned to Charlotte, "Now do you see why it had to be this institute? Why it had to be this year?"

"Honestly?" Charlotte smiled sweetly, "Not exactly."

"I believe I do." Sherlock said suddenly, smiling, "and it is brilliant."

"Oh then please, by all means, explain." Charlotte said politely, and Sherlock noted that Henry had left,

"You did bring us here because this is the safest place, but you didn't fully explain why, did you?"

Castiels face remained unreadable and Sherlock continued, 

"It's James, isn't it?"

Everyone's face except castiels was now morphed into matching shocked expressions.

"What do you mean--" Jem started, but Sherlock continued,

"Well? Am I right?"

Castiel nodded and Sam moved his hair out of his face, speaking for the first time in so long,

"Hold on...Can you explain? Cause I have no idea what's happening anymore.."

Castiel sat down on the sofa, "Dean, Sam, You have met people like James before, yet you haven't. You've met Chuck, and Kevin and--"

"He's a prophet?!" Dean was unable to be quiet anymore

Jem had sat down on the arm of wills chair and looked unusually calm as all eyes turned on his, "I know nothing of this, don't look at me.."

"His name is on the list of prophets, but after that particular unfortunate event the prophecy saw a weak spot in his mind and broke through before he was ready, so it was put to the side and called a hallucination. That's when his name moved.." Castiel looked at Jem, 

"Moved where?" Sam asked at the same time as will,

"His name moved from the list of prophets to be to the list of prophets that are. But he was eleven years old at the time and even the angels knew he had enough on his plate, so to speak. So a few of them tampered with some stuff and tried to block the prophecies. But they still managed to break through sometimes when he was at his weakest.."

"When he was Ill?" Will asked and for the first time in a while, he sounded serious,

"Indeed. Then Gabriel got involved from afar." He sighed, "Him and Raziel were some of the only angels to know what was going to happen, and James couldn't die yet. Nephilim prophets are rare, you see. So Gabriel moved your name again. Back down the list. Even further than before. And he made raziel tell the angels that if anyone uh... tampered with his work... they would be instantly.. eviscerated, to put it kindly."

The room was silent again for a few moments and then William sniggered and was suddenly laughing hysterically, Jem smiling in such a way that showed he was trying not to laugh.  
To the rest of the room they probably seemed insane, but  
Charlotte just shot them an exasperated look and turned to Castiel, "So he will be okay?"

"Yes, for over a hundred-- he will be. Although what even Gabriel couldn't change was that because he was both nephilim and prophet, James' senses when it comes to angels are...enhanced."

"Which is why he can see your true form and so on?" Will said, finally composing himself

"Yes."

Sherlock visibly relaxed now that he understood, but he immediately tensed again, frowning, "Where did my doctor go?" He murmured and dean and sam looked around,

"I don't know, man. When did he go?"

"I haven't seen him since Castiel appeared." Will put in casually and Sherlock frowned,

"I'm surprised I didn't notice."

"I'm surprised Jem didn't know this was going to happen!" Will tilted his head back to grin up at Jem, "Being a prophet and all-- oh!"

The last word of wills sentence was interrupted with a gasp of surprise as Jem slid down so he was sitting on the seat, effectively pushing will off it and onto the floor.

"This is a large place, Mr Holmes, if you are to look for your friend I suggest you take someone with you. There are some rooms you should avoid." Charlotte said politely, then she turned to the Winchesters and Castiel, "And what will you all be doing?"

Sam shrugged, "I'll probably go to the library. Some of the books there seem interesting."

"Nerd." Dean muttered, and Castiel blinked in confusion, 

"Dean, there are books in this institute that would teach you both a great deal of things. I don't see how Sam wanting to learn these things makes him--"

"It's an expression, Cas."

"It's an inadequate insult." Charlotte provided, "Sam, the library is open to your use whenever you need it. But don't try to open any books that have runes scorched into the binding or covers. Now, if you'll excuse me, I should get dressed and find out where my own husband has gone." 

And with that she was gone, leaving Sherlock looking out the window, the Winchesters talking to Castiel and Jem on the chair, will sitting on the floor in front of him, 

"I'm surprised that Tessa or Jessamine haven't woken up to complain about noise or something." Will said studying his fingernails, 

"Hmm..." Jem agreed habitually, looking into the fire, "Tessa had a terrible fever yesterday morning, so she should still be asleep."

"Who is Tessa?" Sherlock said from the window,

"I am." 

Everyone in the room turned their heads to see Tessa standing in the doorway with John Watson behind her

"John." Sherlock stated, "You wandered off without telling me?"

John chuckled, "How long ago did you notice?"

"Five minutes and thirty seconds ago, but I'm still offended."

Tessa looked around the room before walking over to James and William, still in her night dress and dressing gown, "Who are all these people?"

"We're Sam and Dean Winchester, this is Castiel, and that is Sherlock Holmes and John Watson." Sam supplied helpfully and Tessa nodded a thanks with a smile before looking at Jem, "mundane?"

"Most of them." Will said and Jem nodded,

"What do you mean most of them-- " Tessa cut off as Castiel appeared on the other side of the chair, opposite her

"Theresa Gray." He stated seriously, "Its...nice to meet you."

Tessa stared at him for a long time, "Are you a warlock?"

"Are YOU American?" Sherlock butted in, squinting at her from his place at the window and taking in her appearance, "How did you end up in London if you're from New York? Ah. I see... You're rather interesting." By the end of his sentence he was mumbling, then he left the room suddenly and John hesitantly followed.

Will grinned again and Jem answered her question, "No, he isn't a warlock."

"Then what--"

"I am an angel of the lord."

"An....angel?" Tessa looked shocked, "Of the lord? Like in the bible? The ones with wings-- I apologise, you just... God, you-- oh I'm sorry I mean you just don't look how I expected angels to look.."  
She rambled on,

"Yeah, he's an angel. We're from the future. Glad we got that out of the way." Dean walked around Tessa and looked at Jem, "Do you have any decent alcohol here?"

"William?" Jem asked looking down,

"Go into the kitchen, third drawer to the left, behind the pots and pans. Sophie keeps trying to hide them from me."

Dean raised an eyebrow, "What age did you say you were again?"

"Seventeen."

"I'm not exactly a poster child for underage drinking but--"

"Dean, In England the age restriction law wasn't passed until 1902. And even if it were 1902, Will is 17, so he's fine." Sam said with a small smile and dean grinned at him,

"The English, dude."

"But...You're English?" Will said with a smirk, and Jem sighed,

"I mean the British. You guys are--"

"I'm not exactly completely British." Jem and will said at the same time and Tessa smiled, "I'm no where near it."

Sams smile turned into a confused look, "What do you mean?"

"I'm welsh, and James here was raised in shanghai."

"My mother was Chinese, my father was British."

Tessa sat on the high backed sofa and watched this interaction, 

"You're from wales? Isn't that the place with the funny language?" Dean asked smirking and sam sighed, wills grin only growing as he spoke,

"Mae'n chwerthinllyd. Ni gallwch hyd yn oed yn fy neall."

Jem rolled his eyes and sam blinked, "What does that mean?"

"From what I've picked up," Jem answered, "He basically said that Welsh is ridiculous and you cannot understand him."

 

Sam opened his mouth to thank Jem but Dean turned to him, "And you were brought in shanghai? Then why do you have an English accent and all?"

"My father was British, I learned my English from him. Then when I was moved over here, I picked up more of an accent along the way. Same with will."

Sam nodded, "How long have you been here? Like...when did you come?" He asked carefully, his voice giving away that he wanted to ask other questions

"When I was twelve." They answered simultaneously,

Tessa smiled at them and then bit her lip as dean asked the next question,

"Why did you move? Londons all cold and soggy."

Will looked up at Jem as he replied in a calm voice, "I moved over here when my parents were killed by a demon."

Tessa closed her eyes, Sam and deans looked more than a little surprised, "Dude I'm--"

"Yanluo, correct?" Castiel asked. He had taken sherlocks place at the window and was staring out at the streets below, "if it makes you feel any better, he is burning in the darkest corner of hell."

"Cas, That's not--"

"Strangely, It does, thank you." Jem said politely, though one look at will showed that he was indeed just saying it to be polite, knowing that Castiel didn't have much human experience. 

Cas nodded once and continued to stare out the window, 

"What about--" dean started, now looking at will

"James, what day is it?"

Jem tilted his head a little in confusion, "Saturday morning, 6am.. why.. oh. I see. Very well then." He stood up and will stood up too, 

"Where are you going?" Tessa asked, standing up

"It's Saturday morning, we tend to train on Saturday mornings before demon activity gets started." 

"What do you guys train with?" Dean asked and sam nodded, obviously wanting to know the answer himself.

Will shrugged, "Everything?"

Jem nodded in agreement, "Everything. Though Will hasn't even tried to use a bow in almost a year..."

Sam opened his mouth but Tessa had already spoken, "Why not?" She asked, causing Will to scowl, "No reason."

Dean looked at him then raised an eyebrow, "I don't know about sammy here-" he said ignoring sams protest of 'its sam', "But I'd love to see how you guys...train. You're like ninjas."

Will started to shake his head, but Jem was already agreeing, "Of course. You can sit in if you like, maybe I can even teach you how to stop William from getting the best of you so easily."

"James--"

"Sounds like a plan." Dean smirked and Sam looked down at his big brother with a small smile, then turned to talk to Castiel. But Cas had disappeared. 

He sighed softly, This was going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry about how long it took me to update I've had a butt load of exams :( I know this chapter isn't the best but hey, it's something! 
> 
> I feel like I should explain why I made Jem a prophet. You see, in the book he talks about having fever dreams of metal creatures climbing over London when he was eleven, and this basically happens throughout the books... six years later.


	10. You could still be what you want to,

Jem, Will and Tessa all departed to go to their rooms and get dressed, with the promise of meeting them at the training room.  
Then when Dean opened his mouth to shout after them and complain about not knowing how to get to the training room, Castiel interrupted him.

"Walk left down the hall, then take two right turns and walk to the fifth door down." He supplied helpfully without looking away from the window, but when sam turned to thank him, he was gone

"Damn angel" Dean grumbled, walking down the hall, "Always disappearin'"

Sam walked beside him, a knowing smirk on his face, "Mmmhm." He replied simply, glancing down at his big brother as a thousand possible remarks (which would DEFINITELY get him punched) swam around in his brain.

They reached a pair of double doors with a few of those strange runes on them,

"Huh." Dean muttered as he pushed the door open and took a few steps into the large room, Sam following close behind him, "Awesome."

Sam looked around the room with a child-like grin on his face. The walls were lined with targets, weapons and other things that made both him and his brother reasonably excited. Sam watched warily as Dean walked to a wall with his eyebrows furrowed and reached out to touch a very, very clear sword with what looked like Enochian and runes carved into it.

"Dean, stop." Came Cas' voice as he appeared beside Dean and caught at deans wrist before he made contact with the sword, "The blade on that sword would burn your flesh at the touch."

"Oh-- That's freaking fantastic, Cas. Room of awesome weapons that I can't touch. Great."

Sam chuckled at the conversation which was forming, ("Dean, there's only a few of them you can't touch. And only because they are made of pure adamas and heavenly blessed steel, and they have protection from...everything carved into them..") and walked to the middle of the room, stopping to look up at the beams which criss-crossed around each other high up in the ceiling, some higher than others. He noticed a few ropes hanging down and wondered if that was the only way up. If these shadowhunters trained from as young as he thought, how did they get up? He chuckled again at the thought of Dean trying to climb the rope and then looked at his big brother, who was now being shown one of the more cool looking swords by Cas. One that he was actually allowed to touch apparently.

"She's called Ariel." Came a fond voice from the doorway, and sam turned again to see Will, Jem and Tessa. Though the voice had obviously been from Jem.

Dean scoffed, "Dude really? Like the red haired mermaid? You're shitting me right?"

Jem looked puzzled but Castiel quickly amended the situation, "No, Dean. Ariel is the 'Lion of god' Not a mermaid.."

Tessa smiled and looked between Sam and Dean, "Who is this mermaid you speak of? I've only ever seen one mermaid and she was lovely!" She said with a happy tilt in her familiar American accent. Sam took a second to take in the change in her appearance. She had changed into a fitted grey dress which frilled out at the waist. And her hair was bound up and curled. Then sam moved his gaze to the two boys, who were looking much more awake and wearing black clothes with straps across them.

"--but she does get her voice back, correct?" Tessa was saying, and Sam blinked when he realised he had missed half a conversation, "The children of the future will be lucky to have such stories told to them!"

"Fascinating, yeah, Tessa." Will muttered as he walked into the room, towards sam, Jem rolling his eyes and following shortly.

"Will, if we're showing Sam and Dean then--"

"It's Saturday, Jem. I'm not altering our training schedule."

Sam looked at Dean as Will and Jem made their way around him, muttering to each other, and he shared a look with his brother than anyone could perceive as, 'Do you know what they're talking about now? 'Cause I don't.'

As Sam made his way over to Dean and Castiel, Tessa did to. And the two boys stood at the far wall, staring up at a wall of swords and occasionally picking one up and putting it back.

"So, Tessa." Dean began, leaning against the free wall space, "Do YOU not...train?"

"Oh, I do unfortunately. But not today." She answered shortly and Cas frowned,

"You've started your training? I placed us further in your timeline than expected..."

Sam looked over his shoulder at the boys and then back at Tessa, "So when do you train then?"

"Whenever Gideon and Gabriel decide not to be stubborn, I guess--"

"Gabriel?" Both Sam and Dean asked at the same time but Cas just frowned more, Tessa blinked owlishly at them,

"Yes... Gabriel Lightwood? I didnt think you would know him but he is required to train me. Awful fellow. He has a Dreadful temper, but that's because he hates Will. And in turn, the occupants of this institute."

Both of the brothers turned to Cas, eyes wide and questioning but Cas shook his head, "No, Gabriel Lightwood is not Gabriel's Vessel. Gabriel found his vessel long before this." He explained and the brothers nodded, Tessa smiling slightly, obviously confused.

"You mean Gabriel, the archangel?" Will asked walking over to them, spinning a sword around lazily, Jem following suit, but holding his sword still

"Yeah. He's a dick." Dean exclaimed. Sam rolled his eyes at the comment but made a small agreeing noise, causing both Jem and Will to raise their eyebrows.

"That's rather disappointing." Said Jem at the same time Will said, "He sounds fun." And they both smiled.

"Yeah, well. He is disappointing. He's not fun." Dean started, and sam could tell he was going to go on a rant, "Trapped us in freaking TV land and Killed me over 100 times!--"

"Sounds terrible." Will DIDNT sound sympathetic as he cut Dean off, "But do you people want to learn something or?.." he asked impatiently and Jem rolled his eyes, twirling his sword gracefully as he watched their exchange

"What will you be teaching them?" Cas sounded interested, and Dean looked sideways at him

"Basic stuff, really." Jem answered, "not what we usually do-- I won that argument. No, just simple sparring. Some Defense.." Will grunted a response and Dean and Sam exchanged a glance that was clearly interpreted by both as 'What's the worst that could happen?'  
Because... it was just some sword playing with two teenagers, right? They'd be fine.

\---

Castiel and Tessa had sat together on a bench at the side of the training room and were watching Will and Jem teach Sam and Dean.

"You're still holding your blades as if they are going to turn into snakes and strike at you!" Will scolded lazily, "Relax a little. Let the sword--"

"Become an extension of your own arm, yes Will." Jem cut through, "You sound like Harold-- our first trainer. No, you both just need to relax your theflexor tendons a little, but don't lose your grip."

Sam and Dean followed the instructions and dean raised an eyebrow, "This good enough, William Wallace?" He said sarcastically and Jem tilted his head in a way that reminded the brothers of Castiel. But it was, unfortunately, Will who replied,

"William Wallace? That Scottish knight? I'm Welsh, Winchester. Not Scottish."

"Don't mind Dean. Half of his references are from terrible movies and terrible music." Sam supplied helpfully, grinning provocatively at his big brother.

"Bite me, Sammy."

Will and Jem shared an exasperated look, "If you're both done with arguing like an old married couple. We can get started on getting you to fight like a NEW married couple." Will finally stated, brandishing his sword. When the boys nodded, Jem drew his sword again and let out a breath,

"How are we doing this, Will?"

"You take the short one. I like Troed mawr more."

"Troed what now?" Sam started to ask, confused, as he walked towards Will, and Jem explained,

"I'm not entirely sure-- but I think he said something about big feet."

Dean burst into a fit of laughter and sam looked scandalised, even Cas smiling a little as he explained to Tessa what they were talking about.

"You mean.. big foot?" A Pause as Will nodded. "Damn it. Even in the 19th century."

Dean's laughter subsided and he wiped at his eyes, "Okay, Sasquatch, have fun with grouchy." He patted Sam on the shoulder and headed off to the other side of the training room with Jem.

"Does his height get mentioned a lot?" Jem asked as he moved in a circle around Dean, moving his position carefully.

"Uh, yeah. You could say that. Dude's freakishly tall--Ouch!" He gasped out as Jem's sword, which was tucked under his arm as he helped dean, poked into his back

"Oh! I'm terribly sorry! I didn't break skin, don't worry..Im sorry." The teenager apologised with a sheepish smile, "okay, now. Let's get started. Shall we?"

\---

An hour and a half later, Dean was drenched in sweat and finding it difficult to keep a grip on his sword. But, he was getting pretty good.

"Well done!" Jem said smiling when Dean managed to hold a sword fight with him for five minutes straight before his sword was knocked out of his hand, "Brilliant! Better than I was in my first week of training."

Dean, out of breath from the constant exercise, took some time to take in the appearance of James and was a little pleased to see he was also sweating and appeared a little tired, "Yeah, dude, but what age were you?"

"...That doesn't matter. We should see how your brother has went with  
William." He smiled encouragingly, put his sword in a belt strap, and started to walk to where Sam and Will were still sparring determinedly.

Dean followed and he had to admit, he was impressed by Sam's persistence and determination when William clearly had the upper hand. In fact, if dean had to guess he would say Sammy would lose in five seconds flat. He turned to Jem to say as much but didn't have time to. He grinned as he heard a sword hit the floor and turned to see Sam on the floor, will standing and holding a sword to his throat.

"You tripped me!"

"I used your...Gangliness against you, Troed mawr." Will retorted smirking.

"William, we've spoken about your fondness for nicknames." Jem said with a fond smile as he helped Sam up.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, eich fawredd."

Sam half limped over to Dean, smiling, "How'd it go?"

"I'm fantastic-- well, Everything hurts, Little Brother. You?"

"Apart from the shin splints? Great."

They chuckled and Will and Jem approached them again, "You're both terrible." Will Deadpanned and then grinned, "But, for mundanes--"

"What Will is trying to say is that you were better than he expected." Jem supplied, smiling.

"Thanks. Real ego booster right there." Dean snorted, and Sam hummed in agreement, pushing his long, sweaty hair out of his eyes.

"Considering your opponents, I believe you did reasonably well." Came a serious voice, and they didn't even have to turn to know that Cas had come up to them with Tessa in tow.

"Yes. I'd have to agree. I've seen these two fight-- and if you think they were good today, you should see them when they are fighting together...and trying harder." Tessa said seriously, though she was smiling. It was a warm smile, Dean realised, she was trying to be friendly..?

"Tessa--"

"Shhh." Dean cut Will off, "You guys weren't trying hard? Dude that's bullshit. You sound like-" and he stopped, an idea blooming in the back of the mind and bringing a small smirk to his face.

"Dean..." Sams eyes searched dean's face, "What...what are you planning?"

"Dean. You're thinking very loudly, and that's not a good idea" Cas said solemnly and there was a sigh from beside them

"Okay. Not that I don't enjoy your guys' whole 'We literally know what each other are thinking but don't feel the explicit need to explain' thing...but it's beginning to fray my nerves. What the hell are you talking about?"

"I am the only one who can read minds, William."

Jem outstretched a hand slightly towards Will, a gesture that seemed affiliated with calming animals, but Will still spoke, "Regardless of your aeviternal tom-foolery, I do quite loathe being in the dark."

There was a beat of silence, then Dean spoke, "What the hell is aev..aevit.."

"Aeviternal Tom-Foolery?" Jem supplied good naturedly.

"Yeah, that. What the hell is that?"

Will smirked and Jem chuckled, as Tessa uncertainly attempted to supply an answer, "I think it means something like...never ending foolishness?"

"Indeed." Cas confirmed solemnly. "And I quite agree. Deans idea did have an air of Aeviternal Foolishness..."

"Hey! No it didn't! It was just a thought, i was curious! So sue me! It wasn't stupid." Dean mumbled the last sentence and Sam signed,

"Dean?"

"What, Sammy?" Dean grumbled

"Did you... Were you wondering who would win in a fight between Cas and Will/Jem?"

"What? Noo!" Dean tried, but Cas spoke at the same time, saying "Yes, he was."

Jem had the decency to look a little startled at the idea, and so did Will... for a moment. Then, as if a mask had been slipped on, Will smirked.

"Us. Obviously."

Dean and Sam glanced at each other and dean snorted, "Cas is an angel, buddy. You wouldn't stand a chance."

"With Hand to hand fighting or weapons? Easy fight. Pray tell, Castiel--" Dean had to stifle another snort at the rhyme, "--How much of your life have you spent up in heaven?"

Cas blinked, and looked at Dean to see if he was meant to answer or if Will was taunting him. But dean just levelled him with an encouraging thumbs up, "Almost 4.3 billion years..."

"And the earth is...what 4.543 billion years old?"

"Yes. Although God only created certain angels and Seraphs after he was sure the earth needed more potent protecting."

"That idea kinda got smushed into the mud, huh?" Sam said absently and Dean mumbled an agreement.  
But Will went on, ignoring the wary look on Jem's face.

"How long have you been on earth this time, then? With these fellows?"

"Almost eight years."

"I see.." Will WAS properly smirking now and Jem opened his mouth to speak when Castiel, with an air of worry, kept going, "But I was extensively... trained in the arts of war in heaven. I DID command my garrison for a while. Fighting me would likely not be wise"

"Will is not wise. However, I do agree with Castiel, William. Fighting him would be idiotic, even for you." Jem slid into the conversation easily, and Tessa nodded, 

"I also agree, for what it is worth. It would be a new high in your recklessness."

Sam smirked, looking at the ground, and Dean grinned, "See? Listen to your buddies, Herondale--" Dean noticed Sam rolling his eyes at his language, but he had been wanting to call people by their last names In an intimidating way for like...ever, "--and don't bother risking your ass, or your pride for that matter. Just... drop it." He offered with a wide, taunting grin.

Will raised his blade to point at Jem , and looked between him and Tessa, ignoring deans speech completely, "Et tu, brute!?"  
A soft chuckle from Jem cut through the air, "William, I'm afraid you may not be quite as amazingly talented as you think you are--"

"What's that phrase, James? Cogito ergo sum?"

Sam perked up a little, "'I think, therefore I am'" he quoted, and Jem gave him an encouraging smile at his correct recollection of the quote, whereas will just grunted an affirmation.

"Dude." Dean breathed out, and sam looked at him with both eyebrows raised, "Could you get any more nerdy?"

"Dean.." Cas interjected, squinting a little, "Sam's knowledge has often been useful in hunts, and some Philosophy's are just basic knowledge. Also, René Descartes' theory of Cogito ergo sum is a perfectly correct argument."

"So what I'm hearing is...the angel agrees with me?" Will was grinning now and Dean formed his hands into fists to avoid physically screaming at the teenager for calling Cas 'the angel' instead of his name

"I didn't--" 

"But...Descartes argument on human philosophy is correct?" 

"Yes but--" Cas' eyes had widened to his deer in the headlight look

"Alright. All set then? Hand to hand okay?" Will smiled smugly and slid his blade into his belt strap, his eyes sparking dangerously as he strategically avoided Jem's disapproving gaze and locked gazes with Cas instead.

Cas sighed wearily, "If you are sure, William Herondale."

That was it, then. Tessa walked hesitantly to the side benches with Sam and Dean after glancing at Will, but Jem stayed, his back turned to everyone as he entangled himself if a whispered conversation with will, which ended with a slightly more audible, "Alright then, but i will not be the one explaining to Charlotte why you look like lā shǐ at breakfast." He turned from Will, (leaving him looking a little confused at the slip of Chinese dialect) gave Castiel a small smile and a nod, and walked over to sit beside Tessa.

Castiel looked back at dean, then at a slightly confused looking Will, "Do I...do I need to take off my trench coat?" He asked solemnly, and Will looked even more confused by the burst of laughter from the Winchesters behind Cas.

Maybe this wasn't going to go the way he thought it would..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again,I'm so sorry about how long it took me to upload this and I'm also sorry about the quality! Don't hesitate to point out any spelling or grammatical errors that I have missed ;-; Thanks so so much for reading! :))


	11. What you said you were...

Castiel squinted slightly at the nephilim teenager as he stood across from him, waiting for him to show some indication of wanting to start the sparring. He could of course start it himself at any time...but it was customary to give one's opponent a 'head start' when they were going to lose, wasn't it?  
He wasn't sure. Some human concepts still seemed strange to him, but battle? That he understood.

In a swift motion, the nephilim raised his fists and threw a well aimed, strong punch in the direction of Cas' face. But Cas simply moved out of the way in an even faster movement and squinted at Will.

"Are there any rules I should be aware of?" He said with a small head tilt as he caught the teenagers fist in his palm,

"None." Will smirked, taking advantage of Castiel's momentary confusion and swiping out a leg to knock his legs out from underneath him.

Oh, the simple mind of a human, Castiel thought as he fell to the ground gracefully and rolled, getting back to his feet and allowing a small smile to lift at the corners of his mouth as he took a step back towards Will and, with a faint fluttering sound, slipped into the Aetheric plane, seemingly disappearing and watching Will spin around, blinking and confused.

No rules? It's been a while since someone's told him that.

Cas stepped out of the Aetheric plane and appeared behind Will, the tell tale sound of his wings alerting the nephilim just a little too late of his presence. He spun around and Cas punched his square in the face, hard, taking advantage of Will's temporary shock to drive his knee up into his stomach and promptly attempt a roundhouse kick in the direction of Will's neck. 'Attempted' being the right word because, true to his training, Will dropped to a crouch before the kick hit him and rolled, getting behind Cas long enough to kick him in the back of the knee, one hand raising to wipe at the flow of blood coming from his nose.

Cas stumbled forward and stood facing away from Will for a moment, contemplating his options. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dean's encouraging smile and Sam's careful gaze focused on him, While Jem's worried, hesitant gaze and Tessa's wide eyed attentive gaze on Will.  
All of his training in heaven made him almost painfully aware of all the ways he could win, (There were 98, so far. And 25 of them would almost certainly result in Will's death...) but his time on earth made him question all of his training from heaven, could he really willingly defeat this teenager? He has never really done anything to Cas--

This thoughts were cut off by a sharp pain in between his shoulder blades, another kick to the back of his knee and a figure clambering on top of him gracefully to hold him down, an arm constricting his breathing and both knees holding his arms down. The Nephilim's breathing was a little ragged and his nose was obviously broken, still dripping blood, and despite the situation...Cas did feel sorry for him.  
That would make this victory less fun.

"Are we done?" Will said with a faint smirk, "Already?"

"I...wasn't aware that we had started." Cas replied and raised his knee to Jab the bottom of Will's spine, causing him to jump a little and loosen his grip, allowing Cas to take advantage and roll them so he was on top, "But we can stop whenever you get too tired?"

He ignored the whoops and cheers of encouragement from Dean and Sam and even the occasional muttering of advice from Jem to Will, which was silent enough that he couldn't help wonder if WIll could even hear him, though He was giving good advice, Castiel mused silently, the boy should listen

Will scoffed as Castiel raised them both to their feet and pushed the nephilim against the wall, "What's your vessel's name?" He said suddenly,

"Jimmy Novak is in heaven." He replied with his eyes squinted and his head tilted in confusion

"Well then..." he looked up at Castiel through his long, dark lashes. Looking as innocent as he could with that much blood on his face as he raised his head to look up at the ceiling, "Sorry, Jimmy Novak!" And with that, he head butted Castiel with such force that even Cas, Angel of the Lord and almost invincible Castiel, flinched back and raised a hand to his head. Will winked at Cas and looked up again, jumping and grabbing onto one of the ropes, climbing swiftly.

Cas looked over his shoulder exasperatedly at the spectators, receiving small smiles and a thumbs up from dean, before looking up to see that Will was in the beams and grabbing the rope, climbing up carefully, not in a rush; taking his time.

The sight he was met with when he reached the top was, to say the least, surprising. Will was at the far end of the beam, leaning against the wall and smiling, a small, nervous smile. Why was he nervous? It wasn't the fight that was making him nervous. So what was?  
Was this a tactic?

"Come closer, Castiel. I thought it would be easier to talk to you in private if no one were suspicious of what we were talking about.." he whispered, reaching up to wipe the blood away from his chin, then his smile turned into a grin as he saw Cas' disbelief, "What? You think I'm really stupid enough to believe I could win a fight against an angel? I've been taught about your kind, Castiel."

Cas just nodded and walked forward on the beam, aware of the voices muttering a conversation far below him, "What did you want to--"

"Sh!" Will whispered, eyes widened, "I'm not sure about your friends but Jem's hearing is impeccable. Stay quiet." He waited for Cas' solemn nod of understanding and continued, "And I just have one or two small questions..."

Cas nodded again, gazing at the nephilim boy with his 'Go ahead' look and waiting patiently for him to talk. But he only held up one finger in a sort of 'give me a moment' gesture and stood up straight, reaching up and setting his broken nose back into place with a horrifyingly loud click.

"It sounds awful quiet up there.." came Tessa's voice from down below, shortly followed by Jem's,

"The beams go up into the ceiling, Tessa, if they are up high enough we may not hear everything.."

Cas looked down and true enough, they were on the top beam. He looked back at Will, who was now looking at him again, obviously trying to ignore the aftermath of a broken nose, and said in a hushed voice, "I can heal you if you truly don't want to fight.." but Will just chuckled and shook his head, 

"They need to believe it's real."

Cas looked at him for a moment, his head tilted slightly, then he nodded, "Alright... what did you want to talk about?"

Will turned his face to look at the ceiling for a moment, a small smile playing on his lips, then he looked back at Cas, and he saw that the smile was very...very sad, "How much do you know about me?"

"...everything.." Cas replied hesitantly, he knew where this was going...and he couldn't give the boy what he was seeking 

"Then you know about my...my curse?" 

"Yes. But William I can't--"

"No, no" Will interrupted, eyes sad as he realised what Castiel thought, "Not that. I know you won't do that for me, and that's okay. I just want to ask a question..."

Castiel was truly confused now. This boy believed he had a curse, and it was making his life terrible...yet, when in the room with a creature that would be able to dismantle the 'curse' within moments, he doesn't ask for just that? "Of course," Castiel said quietly, his brow furrowed, "What do you want to know?"

Will cast his eyes down to look at his feet, "I... well, you're from the future, and you are an angel... so you should know..." he cleared his throat quietly and looked up at the angel, the guilt and sorrow in his eyes stretched far beyond his age, "James. He... My curse. I was wondering if it is what is worsening his condition? I...I know that it obviously gets worse on its own but... am I effecting him? Was I being too selfish when I assumed I could at least have him? Will he live longer if I.." 

"William, stop." Castiel cut in, his sympathy for this boy already teetering on its limit. He knew he couldn't tell him the truth. He knew. But... the pain in the eyes of one so young was truly ghastly to see, "You shouldn't dwell on--"

"Castiel, is James going to die because of me?" Will blurted out, finally reaching the point he wanted to get to, and Castiel almost lost his balance on the beam, the wobbling catching Will's eye and making his seem more nervous, "Oh God, is that a yes?"

"What... what no!" Castiel almost shouted the no, and then winced at the sound (he heard Dean's shout of 'There! I heard him! Cas?!') and lowered his voice, "William, no. I shouldn't... I'm not meant to.." he stopped and sighed when he saw Will's anxious gaze, "He doesn't die because of you, Gwilym...Not because of you."

Will visibly relaxed, "So then was I right?"

"Yes."

"By the angel.." Will breathed out the phrase, "Thank god." And the relief in his voice almost made Castiel smile... but he didn't smile. Because, unlike Will, he knew what lay ahead for this boy,

"So, Castiel..." He sounded serious again, "You know we will have to make it seem like we've been fighting up here."

Cas frowned, "I'm aware," he slid his angel blade into his grasp and held it out to Will, "This is my angel blade. It is one of the only things that can truly injure me. If you use the hilt to hit me then it should make the effect of--"

"Are you... are you joking?" Will whispered, taking the blade purely so he could study it for a second, then flipping it and holding it back out hilt first to Castiel, "I could never beat you, Castiel. Everyone knows that. As great as I am, you are an angel of the lord. Trained extensively for millenniums."

"I don't know..." Castiel said with a deliberate tone, "Maybe I slipped, because I am not use to the cracks in this wood, and you used your experience to best me." He looked down through the beams at the floor

Will smirked, "Castiel, are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

"The fall would not affect me." Cas offered a small smile, "and you have learned how to land from this high up, correct?"

"Of course. Are you sure?"

"Positive. What is the saying..." Cas trailed off and then smiled, "Hit me with your best shot."

Will cocked his head, "I don't understand that reference." And before Cas could verbalise his reply, Will drove the hilt of his angel blade against just below his temple, a skilfully placed blow that the both knew would look worse than it actually is, and handed the blade back to the angel,

"Ready?"

"Not the first time I've fell, William." And with that, Castiel let himself fall backwards off the beam, freefalling quickly until his back hit the wooden floor of the training room.

"Cas!-" Deans shout was cut short as Will landed in a crouch beside the angel and gave a small wink before holding a hand out to help him up.

When they both got to their feet, they were greeted by four shocked faces.

"What.." Dean barely managed, but the other three stayed silent. Sam, Tessa and Dean just looked shocked, whereas Jem was studying both of them with a small smile and curious eyes, before taking out his stele and strolling casually over to the two, 

"You already set your nose." He stated simply, drawing an iratze on the side of wills face and watching as it faded into the skin and healed the cuts on his face, 

"Yes. I--" 

"I know." He moved to Castiel then, "Am I right to assume that because an iratze is made of heavenly power, it will heal you?"

"Yes, but--" Castiel started,

"No need to refuse. That's an angel blade wound, right? It would take longer to heal." He said softly as he drew another iratze, this time on Castiel.

"Cas, dude..." Dean breathed out, "If a stick could heal your wounds, we could get a stick."

"Not a stick, Dean." Sam said with a sigh, "Its a stele. I read about it last night. You couldn't use it."

"Why the hell not?"

"Oh! I know this one!" Tessa interjected with a bright smile, "They are made of Adamas. If someone without any angel blood tried to use one the results would be...catastrophic."

"I don't know... Ya see, my brother and I have been at the centre of some pretty catastrophic things before and we're still here." Dean said with a smile and Castiel shook his head, ghosting a finger over the already fading iratze where his wound used to be, 

"No, Dean. Usually for a mundane to try and use a stele it would simply burn them a little bit, but with you it would be far worse."

"How so?" Will Asked while wiping some blood off his face and all eyes turned to Cas,

"Dean's body still retains a trace of my grace from when I raised him from perdition, so if he tried to use a stele it would channel the grace and effectively rip him apart... or perhaps burn his body completely.." He said as if the answer was perfectly normal, then he moved his gaze to Dean, "Which is why you will never attempt to use one."

"Yikes. You don't have to tell me twice" Dean replied with a slightly horrified expression on his face and Sam chuckled, whereas Will, Jem and Tessa all looked very confused

"Perdition?" Tessa said in disbelief

"Hell?" Jem and Will said at the same time

"It's a...long story." Sam decided to answer, "in the meantime... Is it almost time for breakfast? I'm like 95% sure I'm not the only one who has heard Dean's stomach growling for the past half an hour."

Amidst hums of agreement and some amused expressions, Jem spoke, "Of course. Breakfast is in an hour, I believe. Will and I will have to go change out of our gear, and Tessa," he paused momentarily to smile at Tessa, then turned back to Sam and Dean, "Since Tessa is already ready she might be willing to show you to the dining room-- that is, if you would still rather not get changed?"

"Hell no." Dean said as Sam said, "We would prefer not to, Thanks."

Jem nodded , smiled and then glanced at Will and left the room, Will following suit behind him.

Cas definitely didn't miss the way Jem's eyes glinted with unasked questions when he looked at Will. And he couldn't help but wonder how much of His and Will's conversation he heard.  
He was pulled out of his thoughts, of course, by Dean snapping his fingers in front of his face, grinning,

"You coming, Man?"

"Yes." He answered immediately and they followed Tessa out and into the hall, the back of his mind still swimming with questions.

Perhaps he should just ask the teenagers later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! :))


	12. When I met you...

Breakfast went about as well as expected. They were all seated down, Jem beside Will with Tessa on his other side while Dean sat beside Sam on the other side of Tessa, Cas beside him and John and Sherlock sat across the table, beside each other to the right of Charlotte and Henry. Jessamine was, as always, seated two seats away from Henry so she could be separate and still hear the conversation.

The table was silent as Sophie and Agatha put out the food, (Apart from Dean's "Thanks, Sweetheart" to Sophie, which was accompanied by a wink and a blush from the Maid) until Charlotte set her tea down and picked up a roll of paper, clearing her throat to get Will and Jem's attention.

"There have been reports of mundanes seeing all sorts of things around the East End of London, and six mundanes have gone missing. There have also been reports of animals going temporarily insane, and as you know--"

"Yes, Charlotte. Animals have a heightened sense of dark things." Will interrupted easily, though his eyes were lit with interest, much like the eyes of the rest of the table-- except Henry, who was reading a paper, and Jessamine, who was studiously avoiding the conversation, "Although I struggle to see what the disappearances have to do with demons. Don't get me wrong, I love a good investigation but..."

"May I see the report, please, Charlotte?" Jem asked politely, setting his cup down and reaching across to take the report from Charlotte, flicking it open and reading it carefully.

Sam and Dean shared a glance and then Dean looked at Cas, who nodded before disappearing.

That certainly got Henry and Jessamine's attention.

"Oh! Goodness, he just disappeared!" Jessamine squeaked and Henry was staring at the place that Castiel was just sitting in with a look of awe on his face,

"Brilliant..." He whispered, "That's..."

"Yes, quite." Charlotte was leaning forward and regarding Sam and Dean with a certain curiosity in her gaze.

"How does he do that?" Tessa asked suddenly, eyebrows raised

"He's an Angel, Tessa." Will said exasperatedly, as if that explained anything, and Jessamines cup clattered to her saucer loudly,

"That is nonsense." She announced, "I refuse to believe that--"

"Yeah, Blondie. Well you can refuse to believe all you like but it ain't gonna change the facts." Dean smirked at her and then turned to Charlotte, "Cas is away to see if the disappearances are anything to do with Angels or our kind of demons or anything."

"Why would--" Tessa started, but Jem spoke softly before she finished her sentence, not even looking up,

"They need Vessels, of sort," he explained thoughtfully, then looked up and smiled uncertainly at her, "The angels are not physical. They are... I mean, I read once that they are more like focused energies. Wavelengths of Celestial intent, so to speak. So they would have to find a human to host them... Whereas demons..."

"Our demons are like black smoke when they're out of hell." Sam explained, eyeing Jem in barely hidden awe, "They also need to possess someone to have a form-- but Angels have to ask permission, demons don't."

"What about Lucifer? He's real right?" Tessa paused when Dean snorted and nodded and then continued, "Would he need to ask permission."

"Yeah, he did..." Sam's eyes were downcast and Dean looked at him in concern for a moment, "He's still technically an angel. Just a crappy one."

"Understatement of this century." John piped in quietly, speaking for the first time during the breakfast, and was shortly followed by Sherlock,

"I'm not sure about that, John." He said looking into his teacup with mild interest, "Some would argue that so far the understatement of this century would be Watson and Crick deciding their discovery of DNA was only of considerable biological interest."

"deoxyribonucleic acid" Henry said thoughtfully, smiling wistfully, "That's one of the more interesting discoveries the mundanes have made.."

"Yeah, right next to Logical thought." Sam muttered, biting off half of his toast

"Logical thought, there's something I like." Sherlock said with a small grin,

"Logical thought..." Tessa said thoughtfully, pushing some egg around with her fork, 

"Logical thought is the process of reasoning and testing in order to deduce the truth in any situation so that it may be more widely applied." Jem supplied helpfully, "Something Will often forgets to incorporate into his decision making."

Will grinned and said, shoving egg into his mouth, "Better a Witty fool than a foolish wit."

"You speak an infinite deal of nothing." Jem retorted easily, then handed the report to Will before he could reply and turned to Dean, "Do you really think this is the work of the demons and angels trying to find you?"

"Yeah," Dean glanced at Sam and cleared his throat, "I mean Cas is gonna check it out just incase it isn't just your kinda thing--"

"Everything that puts the mundanes in harm is 'our kind of thing', Dean." Charlotte said politely and there was a hum of agreement from Jem and a small snort from Will as he cast the newspaper back into the table,

"What do you say, James?"

"Shouldn't we wait--"

"Have we ever waited before?"

Jem sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, a small smile gracing his lips, "William.."

"I agree with Jem." Sam said carefully, "Some of the people gunning for us can be pretty dangerous. For you guys, it might be a bit too--" he stopped talking when he noticed the amused looks he was getting from all the shadowhunters, except jessamine, and Tessa, "...What?"

"James," Will said studying his fingernails, "Tell me, when did you start training?"

"Will--"

"Not a trick question, just proving a point." Wills eyes glittered as he looked up at his parabatai through his eyelashes.

"Well, Six. But--"

"Mmm," He smirked at Sam, who looked as surprised as Dean, and then looked at Charlotte, "And Charlotte, When did you kill your first demon?"

"Will, I don't think this is--" She stopped when she noticed that Will was still looking at her expectantly, "9. But there were only 2 and--"

"And Henry," Will turned to Henry, who eyes had gone comedically wide in a 'What, me?!' Way, "Please remind me, What did you do when you were nine years old?"

"I-i... That... THAT was an accident I didn't--"

"Henry Jocelyn Branwell," Will warned and Henry gulped, straightening his waist coat,

"I uh... When I was nine.." He stared into his now cold tea with nervous eyes, "I accidentally triggered my mothers perfume to explode.."

"Which resulted in?"

Henry glanced up and saw all eyes on him, so he straightened and looked at Charlotte, who was smiling encouragingly, "My parents were on a hunt, the perfume exploded and blinded the demon long enough for them to rescue the mundanes involved and kill the beasts..."

"When I was ten," Jessamine interrupted bitterly, "I had a perfectly normal life."

"Yes, we know, Jessie." Will cooed mockingly and then turned to Sam and Dean, "If you really think we can't deal with a few demons and angels in human...human meatsuits, then you are sorely mistaken. Our weapons are crafted to kill all creatures and we know eight types of exorcisms. We have been trained to do these things for a long time. I would highly suggest you don't underestimate us." He gave Jem a meaningful look and then stood up and walked out.

Jem blinked and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and muttering, "Yēsū jīdū" to himself before looking up and smiling apologetically at Sam and Dean, "I apologise. Usually he would just make a sarcastic remark, I-I don't know what's wrong with him today. Excuse me.." and then he left too.

"Blimey. This IS like Eastenders." John murmured to Sherlock, who just smirked as Charlotte sighed and Tessa sipped her cold tea.

"Oh dear..He seems awfully agitated this morning." Jessamine remarked cheerfully, "That always makes for an interesting day."

"Charlotte, do you think..." Tessa started and Charlotte nodded,

"I'd give them half an hour before Will finally convinces Jem to go with him." She sighed

"I don't know, Lottie. Will's in a bad mood, I say fifteen minutes." Henry said with a small smile and the Winchesters exchanged a look with John and Sherlock.

"How much we betting this time?" Charlotte said sorting though a pile of papers and Dean raised an eyebrow, Sam letting out a huff of laughter as Henry made a thinking noise and then finally replied,

"If I win then I can stay in my workshop for as long as I want for a whole week--"

"But when I win," Charlotte interrupted, "You must attend AND pay attention to the clave meetings."

After a silent 'ooooho' from Dean and a snigger from Tessa, they shook hands.

Sherlock cleared his throat to get attention, "I don't wish to interrupt your gambling-- in fact I would usually join in... but I'd like to see that report of yours."

John handed him the report and his eyes scanned it thoroughly before he snorted, "You're all idiots." He announced and then looked around at the table of identical shocked expressions.

"Excuse me?" Jessamine squeaked.

"I mean I'd expect it from the Winchesters--" at that, Dean scowled and Sam's mouth twitched up at the corner, "But you lot? Come on."

"What do you..." Charlotte started, trailing off as her brown eyes met Sherlock's sparkling pale blue ones,

"Oh-- come on! James isn't stupid, he read this report and saw the patterns I did. I'm afraid neither of you win the bet.. James and William have already left."

"Son of a bitch." Dean half whispered as Tessa's eyes widened fractionally and Charlotte face went blank.

"What are the patterns?" She asked seriously, suddenly all business

"Three of the people that went missing all lived the same lifestyles. It's obvious. Church on Sunday, Pray morning and night, probably. Whereas the other three were rich, probably didn't bother with God. Doesn't take a genius to guess which ones are demons and which are angels. And then there's the sightings..."

"The blood sigils." Charlotte confirmed, "The ones that disappeared overnight. How could..." she trailed off, realisation sparking in her eyes, "The sigils. James knew what they did?"

"No! Obviously not!" Sherlock seemed astounded that anyone could ever think that, "No, but he had a general idea about where the next victim would be. And who."

"Stop being so freaking dramatic and tell us!" Dean barked and Sherlock's gaze flicked to him, before he smiled,

"Judging by his reaction...It's someone they both have a personal connection with. A mundane they've saved perhaps?" He paused and sighed, frustrated, "That's why i brought it up, Charlotte. I need to know. Who have they saved that lives near Whitechapel?"

"I... well I don't.." She stopped, her face going blank, "Oh.."

"Who was it?" Tessa asked leaning forward on her elbows with concern flaming in her eyes. Charlotte turned her gaze to Henry as she spoke, though.

"The Baileys." She said quietly, and Henry's face lost all its previous humour very suddenly, making him seem more serious and professional then he ever had before in front of their guests AND Tessa,

"I thought they didn't..." he started quietly, then shook his head slowly, "Who got out?"

"The youngest daughter." Charlotte was looking down.

"Anyone have any idea what they're talking about?" Dean said looking from Sam to John and Sherlock and then to Tessa. Everyone shook their heads, and Dean turned to Charlotte, "Storytime?"

Jessamine stood up abruptly, her hair bouncing around her shoulders, and huffed, "That is no tale for a breakfast table!" She left the room with a scowl on her face and Charlotte sighed, everyone leaning forward with interested eyes to hear the story.

"When Jem and Will were Fifteen years old, they were assigned a mission by the Clave. It was perhaps their forth official mission and Will complained for hours about how simple and boring it was going to be..." She let out a humourless huff of laughter, "A few shapeshifter demons were seen in the Whitechapel area and a family of mundanes had reported seeing a a dog turn into their delivery boy, so we were notified. Will and Jem were supposed to go in and take care of the demons and lie to the mundanes about what they saw. But things got... complicated."

"What kind of complicated?" Sam asked interestedly, and Charlotte set her fork down, glancing behind them at the door before continuing,

"People died." She said distastefully, "The shapeshifter demons, seven of them, had infiltrated the House of a family called the Baileys and was waiting for Will and Jem. They had locked the real family, A mother, a father, and three kids, into the cellar. When Will and Jem knocked on the house, prepared to lie to a family of mundanes who had just seen something they shouldn't have, they instead were greeted by eidolon demons."

"How long did it take them to figure out?" John said leaning forward with his elbows rested against the table,

"Long enough." Charlotte said sadly, rubbing her temple, "To make a long story short, they got a few feet into the house before they were attacked. They got separated whilst fighting the demons and it was Will who reached the family first. He had barely gotten them out of the house before he was knocked out from behind. He woke up a few hours later and couldn't find James.. So he came back to the institute and a full blown investigation into the nights events began almost immediately. Two children and both parents were found dead later on, and We found Jem before nightfall, in a bunker of sorts underground, still unconscious." Her voice had been slowly getting quieter and Henry laid a hand on her shoulder, taking over,

"He was ill." The red haired man said shortly, "and very annoyed with himself when he woke up. Both the boys were upset. It isn't a surprise that they would want to help any remaining members of that family-- even if I didn't know there were any."

Tessa let out a sad sigh-like noise and Dean rubbed a hand down his jaw, "Man, that sucks."

"Can't save everyone." Sam said quietly,

"Never stopped us feeling bad." Dean pointed out and Sam hummed in agreement.

"Did William and James know this girl was alive?" Sherlock asked with his head tilted slightly and his pale eyes narrowed,

"I- I mentioned it briefly. Though I wasn't sure if they picked up on it... James was unconscious and insentient at the time and William was studiously ignoring everyone."

"Where is the girl staying?" Sam asked softly,

"Their old house... I believe she is 12 now. She lives there with her old nanny."

"Jesus," Tessa looked confused and shocked, "She went back? Does she remember everything?"

"No, no she doesn't." Henry answered for her, "Standard memory wipe to save her sanity"

"You can do that?" Tessa asked, sounding surprised and mildly offended

"Of course--"

"She means," Sherlock interrupted Charlotte, looking curiously at Tessa, "Why didn't you wipe her memory?"

"Oh..." Charlotte said, then repeated, understanding, "Ohh.. I see... well.." she cleared her throats awkwardly, and everyone at the table except for Henry looked at her expectantly, "We were in the middle of an in depth investigation... The Clave thought Tessa would be a useful asset.."

"An asset." Dean replied, face blank

"Is that..." Tessa sighed, sitting up straight, "Is that all I am?"

"Of course not!" Charlotte sounded almost offended, "You know fine rightly that I think of this whole institute as family. No matter how long they plan on staying--"

"Even us?" Dean grinned, but beside him Sam looked sincere when he spoke softly at the same time,

"Even you." Charlotte held Deans gaze until he looked away and Sherlock chuckled, "What's amusing, Mr Holmes?"

"Sentiment." He said and shook his head as if clearing the idea from his brain,

"What's so wrong with Sentiment?" Tessa demanded, looking at Sherlock with something akin to a whirlpool of pity and confusion,

"Don't--" John started, but Sherlock had already spoke,

"Sentiment is a chemical defect found on the losing side. It'll be the death of you." He said Cooley and Dean hummed,

"I won't say I don't agree with you, Sammy and I have both died a few times 'cause of sentiment. But.." he licked his lips, "It's not exactly something you can turn off. Unless you get rid of your soul then you're stuck with feelings and sentimentality and honestly? I'm not sure it's a bad thing. " he chuckled, "I don't think I'd even be alive right now if it weren't for sentiment." He made a face at his own words and sat back in his seat, effectively pushing his chair onto it's back legs,

"That's all well and good, but--"

"Pardon me, Sherlock. But I believe I shall stop you there." Charlotte furrowed her brow as her gaze swept over Sherlock, "I hear enough of this from William. Sentiment is not a chemical defect, it is an advantage." Her tone, although soft, suggested that her claim was not up for debate. And even Sherlock didn't try to challenge her.

Sam let out a low whistle and looked at his hands and Tessa smiled, before her expression schooled back into one of deliberately concealed worry and she stood up, straightening her skirts, "May I be excused?"

"Of course. To the library or your room?"

"Library.." 

"Can I join you?" Sam asked eagerly, already starting to stand up, "I saw this book last time that i wanted to read but I got distracted.."

"By all means." Tessa started to walk out with Sam, then continued, "Do you prefer fiction or Non-fiction?"

"Do you mean my actual preference or which I read more?" Sam asked with a sheepish smile, looking at the portraits on the walls as they walked down the seemingly endless corridors, causing him to startle slightly when Tessa let out a small, warm laugh,

"Your actual preference, of course!"

"Ah, then Fiction. God, you haven't lived until you've read some of the fiction books that are around in the future! One of the best is about a boy called Harry Potter and he's a wizard but he doesn't know he's a wizard because he grew up with his auntie and uncle, who were total snobs, because his parents were killed by this dark wizard and they were wizards but his aunt and uncle never told him he was a wizard and he didn't find out until this cool giant guy called Hagrid came on his birthday and--" he stopped, blushing as he let out a nervous chuckle at the smile Tessa was directing upwards at him. God, she probably thought he sounded stupid. What did teenagers like in the 19th century anyway? "Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble on I just--"

"Oh, no. Don't apologise. I was rather enjoying your summary. You seem to like this series a lot-- It sounds interesting." She grinned, her eyes sparking with interest as Sam held the library door open for her and then followed her in, "Have you read any Charles Dickens books? Or Jane Eyre?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I have!" Sam exclaimed, walking to a table, "I read them a lot during my teenage years and sometimes between hunts, but.." his expression clouded over a little, his smile faltering, "Well, on hunts all the books are for research. Don't get me wrong, I love learning new things, but it would be nice to read something and know it's not actually real, ya know?"

Tessa sat down opposite Sam and leaned forward on her elbows, smiling wistfully, "Not so long ago I didn't believe in any of this. I could read my stories safe in the knowledge that they were, in fact, stories. But Now? Now I've been informed that all the stories are true. I find myself thinking that fairytale creatures are going to start appearing in the middle of the night."

Sam picked the book he planned on reading up with a chuckle, "Hunting monsters is kinda my family business. I was brought up in it 'cause when I was six months old a demon killed my mom..." he paused, wondering when it got so easy just to let those words slip, "My Dad went kinda crazy trying to find the thing that killed her and we grew up on the road, saving people... hunting things... The family business." He snorted, "Got out for a few years, got a girlfriend, some things happened and I got sucked back in.."

Tessa made a sympathetic face, "That's terrible. What did you want to do? When you got out of hunting?"

"I went to college while I was out." He smiled sadly down at his book, "I was going to marry Jess, become a lawyer, have a family of my own with a little house in the suburbs and a dog."

"That sounds nice." Tessa sighed, "Do you still think you could have that?"

Sam looked up at her and found her looking at him with curiosity flaming in her gaze. She wasn't just asking him, he realised, she was wondering if she could have it too,  
"Never say never, right? Jessica is... gone," he swallowed, "but it's not too late for me to get out, I hope. Dean too. Dean has never really been out... He always did what Dad said. Look after me for weeks on end in a motel with hardly enough money to eat while he wasn't here, stay with him throughout his teenage years and hunt instead of having a life... The only time I knew he really A topped listening to my Dad was when my Dad told Dean he'd have to kill me, on his death bed. They were the last words he said to Dean.."

"What kind of father puts that on his children!?" Tessa said angrily before blushing and lowering her head, "I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to--"

"No, your right. He was a pretty sucky Dad. But he was all we had. Apparently he was a great dad before Mom died, though.."

"How much older is Dean?" Tessa asked, leaning forward to rest her chin on her hand,

"Four years."

"So he was Four when your mother..." she trailed off as Sam nodded and continued, "Oh dear. Does he remember it?"

"Bits and pieces. He remembers the smell, the light, carrying me out..." 

"He carried you out?" 

"Yes...I didn't even know until after Jess.." Sam trailed off and shook his head, "What about you? What's your story?"

Tessa bit her lip and smiled small, "It's not quite as dramatic as yours. My mother was called Elizabeth Gray and my Father was Richard Gray. They died in a carriage accident when I was three and My brother and I moved in with my Aunt Harriet. I lived with her until I was sixteen, by this time my brother had moved to London, but then she got ill and died and Nate- Nathaniel, my brother, said I could move to London with him. I got a boat, arrived in England and was picked up by two women called Mrs Dark and Mrs Black with the promise that they would take me to my brother. They did not.."

"Where did they take you?" Sam asked, looking sympathetic and curious

"Their home. For six months they trained me to use my abilities to change into people. I never knew why... I still don't know how I can do what I can do but they said they were 'training' me to use my ability so that I could marry a man called the Magister. They tied me to my bed the night before he was set to come but I was able to get out and then Will came.." she paused. She was looking down and didn't see Sam's confused expression, "He helped me get out and Him, Henry and T-Thomas fought with The Dark sisters. I woke up in the institute and I've been here since. I've found out that I'm probably a Warlock without a warlocks mark, I've found out that my brother is actually a Spy for Mortmain-- the Magister, and I..." She looked up and blushed at the look on Sam's face, "Did I... Am I talking too fast?"

"No I'm just... What's your ability?"

"Oh I... I can shapeshift into other people and access their thoughts..."

"Even dead people?" Sam looked sympathetic, and Tessa couldn't place why 

"Yes. Some of them even remember dying it's..."

"Morbid."

"Yes, indeed."

Sam reached over the table and touched her arm comfortingly, then sat back, "Onto less Morbid topics, which one is it?"

"Pardon?"

Sam grinned, "I may be like twice your age but I can still recognise when someone likes someone. Is it Jem or Will?"

"I-I'm sure I don't know what you mean..." Tessa stammered, slowly turning red. 

"Hey, I won't push! I'm just curious." Sam smiled reassuringly at Tessa and she relaxed a little, nodding, and Sam continued, "Anyway...What's your favourite book?" He asked and knew it was the right question when the teenagers eyes lit up and she smiled,

"A Tale of two cities." She said without hesitation, "I just love the way Dickens writes! He captures his characters so perfectly and I've read almost all of his books. Ive read A tale of two cities at least seven times already and..." she holds up the book she had placed on the table in front of her; it was Tale Of Two Cities.

Sam smiled, "Hey, I think I've read that...The one with Sydney and Lucie, right?"

"Yes! Did you enjoy it?"

"I loved it. It confused me at first, then I re-read it and realised that Sydney must have actually properly been in love with Lucie."

Tessa snorted, then blushed at how unladylike it must have seemed, "Will said the same thing."

"Is he an avid reader?"

"He is. Though he would never admit this to anyone in casual conversation." Tessa said, "He has these mood swings. One moment he will be charming and kind and the next he is so rude or awful I just want to..." she made a vague gesture with her hands that Sam interpreted as strangling and he laughed, 

"D'ya think he has...I don't know..reasons or something?"

"Reasons for what? Being positively horrible? Probably. I just wish I knew them." She sighed, "The only person he truly treats kindly is James. They're 'closer than brothers.' "

Sam nodded, his brow furrowed, "In what way?"

"What do you mean?" Tessa asked confused, then when Sam blushed she laughed, "No, no I think that's illegal. They are parabatai. Their souls are knit together. You should read about it in the Codex. it's truly fascinating.."

Sam nodded, "I think I'll do that, yeah... I think I left the codex.." he sorted through the pile of books and brought out a pleasant looking one, "A-ha! Found it. Are you going to read Tale of two cities?"

"That's the plan..." She sat back, already opening the book, "The information on parabatai is on page 50, by the way.." she added without looking up and Sam nodded, opening to the page and chewing thoughtfully on his bottom lip as they both read in silence.

And there they would remain for the next two hours, unaware of what was happening outside the closed library doors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Is anyone enjoying the story? 
> 
> I don't know I just feel the inexplicable need to know if this story is actually going okay or if I should just give up, you know?


	13. You've got a warm heart, you got a beautiful brain.

"If you had waited five minutes we could have gotten our gear on." Jem said quietly to Will, who just chuckled, as they walked down the street,

"They would have figured out. I assume they thought we would leave in 15 minutes, we left in five. It's an efficient way of saying, 'Fu--"

"Quite." Jem hummed in agreement, cutting his friend off, "Do we have a plan once we get here or do we hope it goes to plan and nothing is there?"

Will clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he thought, and Jem noticed the uncertainty in his parabatai's eyes. He was worried, of course he was worried. Last time they attempted to save the inhabitants in this house it went so wrong that Will refused to let Jem leave the institute at all for three weeks.

"Yes. That plan sounds good." He said finally as they entered the street where the house was situated. The house where everything went wrong those two years ago. Jem had to suppress a chuckle at how long ago the events seemed. So much can happen in two years.

"There it is." He said holding out a hand to stop Will and pointing, "Now it's a question of who is doing what. As I assume that both of us attempting the same entry would be ridiculously stupid."

"You of course mean, 'Who is going to be the distraction at the door?' Right?" A pause as Jem nodded, then Will continued, "There's a debate. I am obviously better looking and a better distraction-" Jem snorted quietly and Will continued persistently, "But people seem more willing to hold a conversation with you, for some ungodly reason."

"Hm, I wonder why. But no, we both need to get inside..." Jem said as he thought, and Will nodded, 

"You are a terrible liar, but I'll give it to you...you aren't that bad at acting."

"...Is that your way of getting out of having to improv a way into the house?" Jem said raising and eyebrow, and Will began to look offended, then he chuckled

"It would seem so, yes. James Carstairs, Will you be my temporary damsel in distress?" Will grinned and Jem rolled his eyes,

"Alright, then. You go in the back, scout out the house, and I'll faint my way through the front door. You know the signal for when we can leave?"

"I do indeed. Be careful, James." Will smiled and started walking to the back alleys,

"You too, William" Jem muttered back, then he started walking towards the house, drawing a glamour rune on his weapons belt before walking up to the door and knocking faintly, trying to seem weaker than usual. When did being weak become so easy to him?

 

An kind looking woman with sharp features and an elegant yet practical cream dress opened the door, a smile gracing her features, "Hello, sir. How may I help you?"

Jem was, although some thought otherwise, good at lying when he needed to, which he demonstrated as he morphed his expression in to a nervous, panicked one, "Good day, Miss. I-I apologise if I have in some way disturbed your morning b-but I..." he allowed his voice to shake as a blush to climbed his pale cheeks and he averted his eyes, before looking up at her through his silver lashes, noticing her already worried face, which he scanned carefully as he looked for information to help his lie, "I.. I was out walking and I collapsed and I woke up j-just around the corner. I don't.. I don't know where I am or how I got here and I-I am terribly sorry but if you could perhaps point me in the direction of...of.." throughout his words he had purposely sped up his breathing to mimic the effect of panic, and now as he looked at the women he let out a fake strangled, "I-i...Ma'am.." and then he collapsed again  
Or 'Collapsed.'   
'Again'

He heard the woman gasp an "oh, goodness!" Before moving to stop his head hitting the concrete, he would have to remember to thank her later, he didn't want to have to explain that to Will. 

He continued to feign unconscious as the woman hauled him inside the house, dragging him carefully to what he assumed was the drawing room and placing him in front of the fire, his head rested on a pillow as she kneeled beside him and tried to assess any damage done.

"I wasn't expecting any injured nephilim at my door, dear child. So you must excuse my lack of..medical equipment." the woman spoke softly, not a hint of malice in her tone and to most people it would have been reassuring, but not to Jem. She knew he was a shadowhunter, so what was she?   
Demon?  
Warlock?  
Vampire?  
Werewolf?  
...Angel?

The soft blue light that Jem had learned to associate with one Magnus Bane burst beneath his eyelids and he cleared his thoughts with ease, she must be a warlock.   
Charlotte never mentioned that little bit of information.

"My god, Child. You must be the Carstairs boy." Pity. He heard pity and sadness in her tone now, and half considered opening his eyes just to let her know she didn't need to pity him, he was okay, "Almost six years since the incident, then. That must be a record for Yin Fen users."

Her cold hand stroked the hair from his forehead, "When you wake up perhaps you can meet little Sarah. She dreams about what happened sometimes, you know.." There was a small thump as the woman sat back against the sofa, "It terrifies her. She gets glimpses of those monsters, and of you and your parabatai's faces. Where is he, I wonder.." She added as an afterthought, and Jem worried she was going to get suspicious, "When Magnus speaks of William Herondale he always seems like he would never let you out of his sight."

There was a sigh.

"I have no Yin Fen.." the warlock muttered quietly, "You have to wake up on your own so you can go back home."

He felt the too familiar twang between his muscles as the drug started to leave his bloodstream.   
No. Not now.  
The woman was talking, but he wasn't listening anymore.   
All he knew was that if this house was attacked, he needed to be able to protect that little girl.  
The concept of failing this self proclaimed mission was non existent. It wasn't an option. Not at all.

Jem forced all his willpower into ignoring the growing pain and keeping his expression neutral, but he was failing on both fronts,

"Jian, calm..." She said gently, resting a hand on his forehead, "You Carstairs', running yourselves to exhaustion before lunch time...You are developing a fever."

He was? Oh god. He needed to get up and get moving. 

William had to hurry up.

He was only meant to be playing the part of an unconscious person, if he didn't finish this quickly, he may not have to act anymore. 

Jesus, why didn't he convince Will to let him go to his room before they left. 

Somewhere in the house there was a bang and the warlock's hand disconnected from Jem's head as she stood up,

"Do not die yet, Jian. I've wanted to talk to you for a while." She said and left the room.

Jem cracked an eye open and, once he was happy with the fact that she was gone, stood up.  
Far too quickly, it seems.  
Black creeped into the corners of his vision and he gripped the edge of the hearth on the fireplace until it faded, blinking a few times and turning with the intention of rushing out of the room, only to be met with intense blue eyes.

"Castiel?" He asked in a hushed voice, "Why are you?-"

"James. Where is William?" Was the angel's gravelly reply and Jem blinked, then pointed at the ceiling,

"I assume he is upstairs by now, with-"

"The girl, the Warlock and--" Castiel began to finish, but before he was done talking, Jem had began walking upstairs, "and the demons.." the angel finished with a sigh, following after the determined nephilim.

~~~~~~~~

Dean whistled to himself as he strolled leisurely down the institute halls, searching for the library so he could tell his brother and Tessa about what they discussed when the two bookworms left to read,

They had recognised that the two badass besties teenagers, Jem and Will, have definitely went to the house of one of their top ten failed missions to try and help the child, and Cas still hadn't came back from his demon and angel spot check yet, so that didn't help ease the growing feeling of nausea in Dean's stomach. 

When Dean voiced his concerns, (Very calmly, thank you very much.) Charlotte had agreed with them and told him to collect his brother--   
Well, at first she said that Her and Henry would go alone, but Dean disagreed, (Again, VERY calmly.) she eventually told him that if he could 'fetch' his brother and be ready in ten minutes they'd all go.

He scoffed to himself.

She probably thought they would take longer, but they were raised on leaving in ten minutes or being left behind. 

He pushed the door to the library open, causing Tessa to jump and Sam to glance up from the table they were sitting at, both reading.

"Up and At'em, Sammy." He called and approached the table, frowning when he caught the suspiciously shaped book that was thrown his way by Tessa, "What the hell is this?"

"A three hundred page book about manners." She closed the book and turned to him as Sam stood up, "Where are you both planning on going?"

"Uh...Out." Dean looked at his Little brother, raised his eyebrows a little, and just like that, Sammy straightened and Realisation dawned in his eyes 

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Sorry, Tessa. Don't let this interrupt your reading. See you later." he smiled warmly and the brothers both began to walk out of the library, but when the door opened Tessa gathered up her skirts and ran towards them,

"Please, do not try to lie to me.." She said walking beside Sam as they hurried down a hall.

Sam exchanged a look with his brother, but Dean shook his head and answered for him,

"Sorry, Hermione. The boss said not to involve you."

Tessa's face all but lit up with worry and she rushed to get infront on them, walking backwards, "Is it about Jem and Will? Has something happened?" Another look exchanged, no answer, "Please." Sam looked at his feet guiltily and she turned her hard gaze to meet Dean's, "They are my friends. You would want to know what was going on if this was Castiel, would you not?"

"Cas is--" Dean shut his mouth quickly and cursed under his breath, and Tessa stopped walking when they reached the doorway that leads to the entrance hall,

"Oh! Castiel went to see if your demons had travelled back with you, correct? Has he not returned? Is that why you think something has happened? Are you going to help them? I am coming." Without waiting for a reply, the Brunette spun around and stormed into the entrance hall, where Charlotte and Henry were talking to each other.

"Oh, crap.." Dean muttered and followed after her, Sam jogging to catch up and walking with them, "I didn't tell her anything, by the way." He called to Charlotte when she looked at Tessa.

"Tessa-"

"Charlotte, answer one question for me: Is there a possibility that they might be in danger?" Tessa pushed, looking like the definition of determined with her hands on her hips and her jaw set.

"Possibly. But you must understand-" Charlotte held her hand out as if Tessa was an annoyed animal,

"No. If they are in danger then I want to help! They're my friends."

"Tessa, No." Charlotte said sternly, "William and James would be extremely unhappy if something were to happen to you because of this. That family means too much to them. The failed mission means too much to them. Tessa, they'll never forgive themselves if anything happens to you and I don't want that for them. Not this time."

Everyone was silent for a minute and Dean was considering one of his terrible ice breakers when Tessa whimpered out, "Charlotte...I'll stay out of the way. I promise I won't try anything, I just need to be there..." 

"I don't have time for this." Charlotte sighed and looked at her husband over her shoulder before looking back at Tessa, "You aren't to engage in any heroic behaviour, am I understood?" Tessa nodded obediently, and Charlotte looked around, "Good. Now, where are John and Sherlock?"

"Present."

They turned to see John and Sherlock walking down the stairs, Sherlock tying his scarf back around his neck and John shrugging his arms into a jacket, "Well? Let's get on with it, shall we?" Sherlock said impatiently, excitement traced through his tone as he opened the institute door and made a sarcastic over exaggerated 'After you' gesture with his arm.

Charlotte shared an exasperated Look with Henry and walked through the door, the rest of the group followed.

~~~

"Pardon me, sir... Have I met you?" Were the first words out of little Sarah Bailey's mouth when Will entered her room through the window. She was sitting up on her bed with her brown hair in two braids and a plain peach coloured dress on, a doll clutched in her hand.

"Yes, thought I doubt you remember me." Will said as softly as he could, smiling and willing the little girl to trust him, "I knew your parents. We need to get you out of here, okay?"

"Abby told me not to trust strangers..." Sarah said with an air of defiance, but scrambled off the bed, "Why should I trust you, sir?"

Abby... the nanny, perhaps? 

"I promise, Sarah, you can trust me."

"Did you really know my parents?" She asked walking up to him, leaving her doll on the bed and staring up at him with curious green eyes. The whole family had had green eyes, and he had watched the life leave them before.  
Not again.

"Yes, and because of that...." 

"I trust you, sir." The little girl squinted up at her, "I feel like I can, at least..."

"My name is Will. Have you ever had a piggyback ride?" He asked with a grin, but he was worrying. Something felt off and they needed to leave as soon as possible.

"My father used to carry me on his back when we went for walks, but--"

The door opened and the woman standing in the doorway regarded him with a curious gaze, "William Herondale, I presume...?"

Well, there goes the idea of getting in and out without any trouble.

"Ma'am, Sarah-" he started. He didn't want to start any trouble, really. He just needed to get Sarah safe, no matter what obstacles threaten to arise last minute. But to his surprise, the woman interrupted him,

"A oes perygl?" She asked, speaking Welsh with the perfect pronunciation of a native.   
Is there danger? She had asked.  
So, his name wasn't all she knew about him.

"ie." Will confirmed simply, thinking a simple yes would suffice. He was, of course, right. The woman, Will guessed she was Abby, bent down and gestured for Sarah to come closer.  
Sarah walked over to her hesitantly, 

"This man? You can trust him." Abby said with a smile, "He's going to take you to a place with some nice people and I'll be there later, alright?"

To say he was shocked was an understatement. WILL had expected her to come barging in like some sort of mad woman and scream at him to leave, possibly brandishing a wooden spoon or a lead pipe. 

"He says he knew my parents." Was the little girl's response, and when Abby nodded, she smiled, "Then I will go. If you swear to me, Abby, you will be coming too to explain why I must leave?"

The woman sent a nervous glance at Will, "Of course. I suppose it was inevitable." And she hugged Sarah, then straightened, turning to Will, "Your friend is downstairs, by the way. I assume he was supposed to be a distraction, but something felt...wrong about him."

Will straightened, forcing his face into neutrality, "I'll be back, pack whatever is necessary for the girl..."  
He said and then walked quickly out into the hallway, making a beeline for the stairs and only stopping when he saw Jem emerging up them,

"James," he started, taking in his parabatai's slightly ruffled appearance and flushed cheeks, "My own damsel in distress."

For a moment, Jem just smiled, rolled his eyes, and opened his mouth to speak, before his face went blank and his eyes flicked to behind Will, "William, move!" 

He didn't even think. Didn't even turn to see what Jem had saw, he just darted to the side and pulled out his seraph blade, calling out, "Rogziel!" 

The blade lit up and there was a woman standing in front of them in clothes similar to the ones Sam and Dean were wearing when they arrived. She was smirking and holding her hands up sarcastically, her smirk faltering when another voice spoke,

"You called?"

They turned to see a man in a suit like Sherlock's standing behind Jem, who spun around with own seraph blade already in hand, and holding a strange blade,

"Rogziel!" Castiel grumbled, having walked up the stairs, then turned his gaze to the woman, "Leave."

"Wait a moment..." Will turned to Jem, "Did he just..."

"Never had that happen before." Jem agreed, a wary look in his eyes as he looked between the woman and the angel

"Yeah, Roggy. You can go." The woman said with a grin and not for the first time, Will wondered what was actually happening. Only, the man didn't reply, just spun his blade and looked between Jem and Will, who had at one point moved to either side of Castiel.

"Move, Nephilim." He hissed, "My brother and my father may have plans for you, but i won't hesitate to kill you if you get in the way."

"What do you say, James?" Will said smirking at the apparent Angel 

"I don't know, William..." his parabatai said with a small sarcastic sigh, "I don't really think we can."

"Then...number 15?"

"Excellent choice."

Will barely glanced at Castiel before understanding bloomed across the angel's face, his blade sliding into his grasp

Plan fifteen was one of Will's favourites. He and Jem had devised a list of strategies for things like this back when they first became parabatai. Number fifteen was the kind they didn't need often, it was the 'Distraction' plan.  
Of course, there were three of them now.   
The third of which was an angel being hunted by his fellow angels and the demons.   
Which meant they needed it.

"Ominous." The woman said with a dark chuckle, "I like that in my men... Too bad you got all those nasty tattoos--" she was cut off by Jem's throwing knife flying through the air and pinning her to the wall through her chest, "Son of a bitch!" She then growled

"That's not 15." Will said, "That's 13."

"You forgot 4." Jem reasoned with a straight face, "If they're monologuing, the plan is momentarily void." 

"Ah, of course."

"Are you done, I don't have time for you prattling humans to--" Rogziel hissed, then his eyes went wide when he noticed that Castiel had slipped away during their distraction "Where has Castiel went?!"

"Is that was plan fifteen was?!" The demon ground out between clenched teeth.

The two boys exchanged a look and Will turned towards the demon, brandishing his seraph blade, "If I informed you of everything in our private plan system, then it will no longer be private. Right, James?"

No reply except a grin from the demon.

"James--" he turned and saw no one behind him in the hallway. Not even Rogziel. Then, quite suddenly, Will was flying through the air, stopping only when his back connected with the wall. 

"Oh, boy. This could be fun"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so so sorry about how long it took me to update this <3
> 
> As always, If I have messed anything up, I'd appreciate you telling me about it. :) 
> 
> Thanks


	14. LITERALLY DONT READ THIS IM SO SORRY HOLY MOLY

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Great googly moogly its all gone to shit

Alright, my friends, I will start by telling anyone reading this that I am one of those horrible people who lose interest in a fanfic and decide to soften the blow by posting a chapter squashing the hopes that it will ever be continued-

OR AM I?

No, for real though. This will be a short chapter consisting of just my thoughts. A summary for those who cba? 'I have lost interest, I hate how I've written this, I will likely be re-doing it soon.'

A not-summary?

I have half of the next chapter finished, and I have so many ideas, but I re-read chapters I have already posted and a part of my soul crumbles into the abyss, honestly, it is so cringy, and I hate some of the stuff with my whole heart, and there are INACCURATE facts and bullshit waaaaaaaay out there ideas and ugughghughguhgughguhg-

That being said, I wrote this fanfiction because I couldn't find anyone else who had done it. And there's that saying I saw on tumblr once that says something about If you want to read something, but no one has wrote it, then you need to write it. And there I was. I wanted to read this idea.

So i will be writing this again. I don't know when, I'm not doing so hot right now, but I will. Anyone who doesn't want to wait but reaaaaaalllllllyyyyyyy wants to know what I'd change and the ideas I have for the fic and for the ending, my tumblr is Impalaofthelord and the profile picture is Actual Angel Jared Padalecki, and I will always answer any questions.

I love all of you, and I am so deeply, deeply sorry...

Until next time, E.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay...so this is my first published Fanfiction and I know it's shitty but I would really appreciate it if you could leave a comment with your opinion/ any ideas you have :)) I'll try to update pretty often.  
> Adiós Mishamigos.


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